BCS Book Fair is a Success
By Eric Brooks
There was a great turn out at the family night– one of the largest Book Fair Family Night events in history! Students were excited to participate in the Egg-citing Egg Egg-stravaganza where they were able to pick a plastic colored Easter egg and win a free prize just for attending! Prizes included colorful Easter pencils, mini spiky balls, wristbands, book fair posters, Easter baskets filled with books and other goodies, and book fair gift certificates. Pizza, veggies, and desserts were also served to those attending!
It is a fun school tradition that brings families together. Special guest, Clifford, the Big Red Dog, greeted students and families as they entered the gym and offered chances for pictures. Students were also able to create their own bookmarks at the craft station and enjoyed browsing for some great books! Students involved in the Title 1 Reading and Math programs participated in a special family event and were able to choose a book from the fair as part of the parent involvement grant. One student chose to celebrate her birthday at the Book Fair Family Night instead of going out to dinner at a restaurant!
Teachers and staff volunteer to set up the book fair in the gym after school in preparation for the family event and then it continues to be staffed by parent and teacher volunteers throughout the event. Many families purchased books from “classroom wish lists” which are teacher selected books that are then donated to the classroom. This is a wonderful way to infuse new books into classrooms and the library. In addition to volunteers at family night, parents volunteered during the week to run the register and help students shop for books so students could make purchases during the school day.
We hosted a popup informational booth as part of Inland Hospital’s 5-2-1-0 initiative. Participants were able to learn about shopping healthy on a budget and received a free reusable bag. The 5-2-1-0 stands for 5 or more fruits or vegetables daily, 2 hours or less of recreational screen time, 1 or more hours of physical activity and 0 sugary drinks. This is a partnership between RSU 18 and Inland Hospital with efforts at BCS led by BCS teacher Eric Brooks and guidance counselor Jamie Wade, and at the district level by 5210 Champion Claire Heffernan. The program focuses on developing healthy habits and positive lifestyles. The partnership also includes grants to the school for playground equipment and other programs.
Overall, the fair earned a profit of nearly $2,000 that was used to purchase additional instructional novel sets, books for classrooms and the school library.