Preston Elementary Awarded Target Grant for Books

Within one month, boxes of new books will arrive at thanks to a grant from at Howe Road.

“One of our primary responsibilities as elementary educators is to provide students with a solid foundation in literacy,” Joy Houchen said, principal at Preston.

“With the assistance of companies like Target, who selected our school for $500 in books, we are able to get more books into the hands of our young readers.”

The grant is part of an ongoing company-wide effort for Target, to make a difference in communities across the U.S.

Houchen said the plan is for the books to be used by students this school year. She added that the new material allows teachers to incorporate whole-school literacy activities that would otherwise not be available without the extra money.

“We selected a wide variety of texts to give to students in all grade levels for the birthday book club,” she said.

Books Purchased for Classroom Use:

• Llama, Llama, Red Pajama, by Anna Dewdney- Read for the Record Day activities in grades K-2 on Oct. 6.

• Martin's Big Words: The Life of Martin Luther King, Jr., by Doreen Rappaport and Bryan Collier. This will be read to the students in every classroom on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

• We the People: The Story of Our Constitution, by Lynne Cheney and Greg Harlin.

• Snowy Day, by Ezra Jack Keats. This picture book will be used for a school-wide writing project in the winter. The principal will challenge the students to write a story based on the pictures in the book.