Teacher Donates Her Personal Library

Books about Native Americans, Black history books, picture books, biographies and more--Joanne Parizek, a K-5 teacher from Jupiter, Florida, has been collecting books for young readers for more than 35 years. At ASCD's Books Bash, she donated 15 boxes worth--about 500 books--to the schoolchildren of Orange County, Florida.

Joanne Parizek hands over some of her books to ASCD staffers Diane Parker and Deborah Brown.

A reading teacher for most of her professional career, Joanne color-coded sets of books to use with children of different reading levels, ages, and interests. Her special fascination is with books that impart an understanding of different cultures. Because she will be taking on a new position as a K-5 math/science lab teacher in September, Joanne decided her books needed wider distribution. The Books Bash was her service project of choice.

The ASCD Books and Fun in the Sun Bash, sponsored by Pearson Education and Nova Southeastern University, was ASCD's second such service project, with all donated books headed for Title I schools in the conference city. The sponsors and conference attendees together donated more than 4,000 books this year.

Joanne was attending ASCD's Annual Conference with her daughter, an assistant principal, who helped transport all the books.

• Learn why providing books to children over the summer might be the best way to prevent summer reading loss.

• A conference attendee said this about a session on a schoolwide writing program that leaves no child behind: "I have not only already used his writing suggestions, but also his active teaching strategies in my class!"

• Read about literacy in a recent issue of Education Update that includes reading resources, strategies from literacy coaches, and information on how blogs can benefit educators.
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