PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Students at Hodges Manor Elementary School in Portsmouth are taking home some new reading material.
Every child in the building picked out five brand-new books at no cost to their families.
The giveaway is part of WTKR’s "If You Give a Child a Book" campaign, made possible through the Scripps Howard Fund. The fund partners with Title One schools, with a special focus on students in kindergarten through third grade. This is a critical period for students when they are learning to read.
Dennis Chalk, principal of Hodges Manor Elementary, said the donations make a huge difference for the kids.
"It's all because of the sponsorship, you know, that these kids are able to get these books. You know, every single kid in this building is able to receive the 5 books, and we actually have it set up. I mean, their books are here for like our EL students, you know, we are all levels of books," Chalk said.
Chalk noted that reading is the foundation for all education, pointing out that even math requires reading comprehension for word problems. He said the students are excited to pick out brand-new books to keep rather than hand-me-downs.
Since starting the campaign at the school, they have given around 20,000 books to students, including 3,000 books during this recent event.
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