The arrival of Book Trust books in Yvonne Olson’s third-grade class was truly a joyful celebration. Since placing the final book order of the school year, the students at the Francis Scott Key School in Philadelphia, PA eagerly waited for their book box and, with the help of their teacher, even tracked the package in the mail. Finally, on the afternoon of April 24, it was time to celebrate!
Since it was a standardized testing week, no posters or books could be displayed in the classroom, but that didn’t stop Ms. Olson from making it feel like a party. The room was decorated with balloons, crepe paper bunting along the windows, and streamers on the door. The students’ books were packaged in colorful wrapping paper with candy taped on and arranged on the book display shelves in the classroom’s reading corner.
This thoughtful celebration of the students’ new books perfectly aligned with the school’s theme for the year: Fertile ground: Harvesting community culture, genius, and joy so all students thrive. “Our school theme leads our mission at Key School,” said Principal Pauline Cheung. “We intentionally choose programming that cultivates students’ joy and genius.”
To start the celebration, the school’s Book Trust Manager, Carmen Paternoster, read The Cool Bean Makes a Splash aloud to the class. According to Carmen, many teachers like to add a surprise element to the celebration. “We’ve had parents come in and read a book or two. Sometimes we swap teachers, which is a lot of fun.”
After the read aloud, students were called up one by one to collect the package with their name on it and then they all unwrapped their books together. Music started playing, cookies and candy were passed out, and the students excitedly spread around the room to read the newest additions to their personal libraries.
“The best thing about Book Trust is that it gets really great books into children’s hands,” said Carmen. “We love the whole process of Book Trust, particularly the part where kids get to choose what they want. They love going through the flyers.”
The students spent the remainder of the school day reading independently or with a buddy and enjoying their sweet treats. “Thank you, Book Trust, for these books!” Third grader Evans said while showing one of his new books, The Game Master: Mansion Mystery, to classmates and staff.
At the end of the celebration, the students worked together to clean up and asked their teacher when the next party would take place. As they lined up to head outside for after school pick up, one student turned around before walking out of the classroom and exclaimed, “I want more books!”
View photos of the celebration here!
