At Lavern Gaynor Elementary School, Media Specialist Tiffany Weeks was awarded four grants during the 2024-2025 school year through Champions For Learning’s Classroom Grants Program to promote school-wide literacy projects and encourage students to become stronger readers.
“Learning about Leaders,” was a project that provided funding to purchase 20 new titles in the popular “Who Is? Who Was?” book series, which are biographies designed to be engaging for younger students. The stories present important historical or current figures from across the world in a storytelling format that helps readers connect emotionally and intellectually with the individual. For the school’s annual Leadership Day, students presented an overview and drawing of the historic figure of their choice, using the “Who is? Who Was” book as a reference. With the addition of these books, an entire section of the school’s library is now dedicated to the series, which will support students’ reading comprehension and historical understanding for years to come.
“Make Our Library Dynamic” included the purchase of 50 baskets, a simple expense that enabled Tiffany to transform the functionality of the media center space and improve the experience for students and staff. By creating dynamic shelving for library books, Tiffany could adjust the layout and configuration of shelves based on changing needs of teachers and students. By rotating displays and creating themed sections, she engaged students with new topics and encouraged exploration, highlighting seasonal books, new arrivals, or special collections. “Allowing our youngest students to browse books that are in bins makes it much easier to select a book that interests them,” Tiffany explained. “Students are checking out titles that they possibly would not have checked out before because now they can see them, and it piques their interest.”
“Reader Leaders” funded the creation of a school-wide, Leader In Me Reader Leader Club, for 30 avid readers in grades 1-3. During club time, students had the opportunity to read independently, listen to picture book read-a-louds, and learn about different book genres, fueling their love for reading and storytelling. Each meeting was centered around a different theme such as reading under “the stars,” reading with a buddy, and sleepover reading. At the end of the year, each student received a book to keep and add to their home library.
“Who Wants a Book?” provided a large selection of books for the school’s Book Vending Machine. Each month two students from each classroom are recognized for their efforts and achievements in reading and are awarded golden tokens that allow them to come and choose a book from the machine, which is filled with books of all shapes and sizes to appeal to any elementary student. The Book Vending Machine makes reading fun, getting students excited about “buying” a book of their very own. Many students at Lavern Gaynor come from households where English is a second language and books in English are not readily available. “This program helps us to help our students build a home library with books that they can read and share with their family,” stated Tiffany.
Reading is so much more than a classroom activity; it’s the foundation for all learning. Champions For Learning is so excited to see Lavern Gaynor Elementary’s students further grow as reader leaders.
Will you join us as a Champion For Learning by making a gift to support our Classroom Grants program for the upcoming 2025-2026 school year? Your investment ensures that our educators can spark deeper learning and promote exciting initiatives in their schools.