Students and teachers at Schultz Elementary in Delaware raised more than $1,700 for charity in advance of the upcoming Scholastic Book Fair.
Schultz Librarian Rose Long said Friday that Scholastic will match the $1,719 donated by Schultz for the All for Books program, which distributes books to children in need through organizations such as Kids in Need Foundation, Reader to Reader, Inc., and the National Center for Families Learning.
Long said the school has been doing the fundraiser, which encourages students to bring in pocket change, for years. This year’s fundraiser, however, received a much bigger response because Long turned it into a competition.
“We’ve done this for the last few years,” she said. “Whatever we collect, we use for our kids here, and they match it dollar for dollar for those organizations. The last few years I’ve collect something around $300 dollars, and my goal this year was to have a competition and try and collect $1,000.”
Long said whichever class collected the most money would get a $150 shopping spree during the Scholastic Book Fair from Oct. 21 to Nov. 1. She added the runner-up class would get $100 to spend.
The competition boiled down to a rivalry between second grade teachers, Emily Thornlow and Jennifer Larrison. Long announced Friday that Thornlow’s class emerged victorious and had raised more than $500.
“It was really fun for kids to engage with,” Thornlow said before the results were announced. “(I hope) they’ve learned to be gracious winners and not sore losers. It’s a good opportunity to learn not everyone can win.”
Thornlow said she was happy that Larrison’s class stepped up this year and turned the fundraiser into more of a competition.
“We’re both competitive,” Thornlow laughed. “I’m super proud of all the kids.”
Larrison said Friday that she was pleased and proud of her class for staying neck and neck with Thornlow’s class this year.
“I’m so proud of my kids for bringing in the amount of money they did,” Larrison said. “Mrs. Thornlow is very competitive, so we decided to give her a competition. “
Larrison said the lesson for her students was about kindness and compassion, as well as healthy and friendly competition.
“They learned to help other students who are not as well off,” Larrison said. “I’m really proud of them.”
Long said she was looking forward to the book fair, which she considers a success every year.
“Everyone in this building will be able to get stuff for kids,” she said. “Scholastic has told me that our book fair is one of the biggest in central Ohio. I think we’re very blessed with a good, supportive staff. Also, the support of the students and the parents is amazing. We have an amazing community that comes in. I love getting books in kids’ hands.”
