Just days before winter break, hundreds of excited students at Kimberly Elementary School received a very special holiday gift: free books of their choice to take home and add to their personal libraries.
The Buis Book Foundation’s annual book giveaway was held on December 18, marking the third consecutive year the foundation has donated books to students in kindergarten through fifth grade. From fan favorites by author Beverly Clearly and Junie B. Jones chapter books, to easy readers and books about sports, science, and other topics, each student was able to select seven books that interested them the most.
Held each December and May, the book giveaway is specifically designed to strengthen students’ literacy skills. Since 2021, the Buis Book Foundation has donated more than 4,000 books to Kimberly students.
Donesha Bolden, interim assistant principal at Kimberly, said she was immensely grateful to the foundation for donating books to students. She noted that the school prioritizes literacy across all content areas, which has contributed to impressive achievement gains on Georgia Milestones assessments, as well as MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) test scores.
Bolden credits the book donations with strengthening students’ literacy skills and creating a love for reading.
“This is extremely exciting because we’ve worked to foster a love for reading, and we want others to see that reading happens here as soon as you walk in the door,” Bolden said. “Our kids get really excited because they know this event comes every year, and they immediately start reading once they get their books. We’re actually looking to build that interest in reading, not where you have to read, but where they want to read. They get an opportunity to pick books off the tables that actually interest them, and there are a plethora of genres and topics from which our scholars can choose.”
Fourth grader Makenzie Gibbs was excited to select her books. Some of the books she selected included “Diary of a Pug” and a book about the Titanic.
“This was just flawless,” said Makenzie, who loves reading about dogs.
CEO Dr. Kirk Buis said he was encouraged by the students’ excitement.
“We know how important reading is, and if you give kids books that they want to read, they will read,” said Dr. Buis, a retired Gwinnett County Public Schools teacher who self-funds the book giveaway. “Right now, quite honestly, I think in education we are losing the battle with electronics. I read a study recently that indicated that reading on a computer is not as good as reading physical books because kids just concentrate differently. Getting books into the hands of kids is vital to their future.”
“This (book giveaway) works,” he continued. “We see a difference in students’ reading skills if they’re reading. And that’s true for anything. If a kid wants to be a better soccer player, they play soccer. If they want to be a better violinist, they practice their violin. So, if we want kids to be better readers, they just need to read.”
For more information about the Buis Book Foundation, visit: buisbookfoundation.org.
activities this month, with a look-alike contest to see which students could best match the appearance of the nation’s first African-American president and his wife. Along with the contest, students read books about President Obama, and watched and listened to media interviews featuring the 44th President of the United States and his wife.
On Wednesday, Vision to Learn’s Damian Carroll, Manager of External Relations, and Anne Morris Reid, Chief Strategy Officer, joined Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Meria J. Carstarphen and Atlanta Board of Education District 6 Representative Eshe P. Collins, along with Atlanta Hawks Foundation Executive Director David Lee and Hawks legend Dominique Wilkins, a member of the National Basketball Association (NBA) Hall of Fame, in handing out glasses to students at Fickett. The 62 pairs they distributed now makes the grand total 111 students at Fickett who now have new eye glasses thanks to the Vision to Learn/Hawks Foundation/APS partnership.
“We want to help foster a love of reading in our students, so that they will want to read more,” Dr. Woolfolk said. “The more they read, the more their comprehension and proficiency will increase. We’re so grateful to Georgia-Pacific for their support in helping us reach our goals.”
