Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School Teacher Earns Grant To Buy 100 Books

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — English Language Arts teacher Megan Alloway, a self-proclaimed "huge reader," was the recipient of one of the 65 grants that the Book Love Foundation has awarded to teachers throughout the United States.

Alloway is using the $1,000 grant to get 100 new books for her to share with her 7th-grade students at the Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School.

According to its website, the Book Love Foundation is a non-profit organization that is run by
volunteers who help fund classroom libraries. Since its inception, the foundation has raised more than $1 million to support more than 400 K-12 classroom teachers across North America.

Penny Kittle is the author of “Book Love” and is also the president of the foundation of that same
name that she helped launch in 2012.

Alloway explained her attraction to the "Book Love."

"Penny Kittle wrote the book about independent reading that I strongly believe in," Alloway said. "Her book was about teaching the preparation of independent reading. I use a lot of her recommendations in my class."

Alloway then applied for the grant and was awarded it on her second try.

Thanks to the $1,000 grant, the 100 books have made their way into her classroom at the Middle School where her students gave their seal of approval.

"I was so excited to see a lot of our students open a book and they smelled them because they felt their value and knew that they were beautiful new books to read," she said.

Included in her grant is the opportunity for her to join a monthly Zoom meeting with other teachers who have secured grants as well as Book Love Foundation officials.

"It is a professional development session and I get to connect with other teachers," she said.

— Submitted by Bridgewater-Raritan Schools