23 Feb
by Derrick Vander Waal
SIOUX CENTER, IOWA – Kids collecting books for kids.
SIOUX CENTER, IOWA – Kids collecting books for kids.
What could be more cool that that?
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| Sioux Center Christian School students Levi Tintle and AnnaBelle Koele read together the books that they donated as part of a book drive for Promise Community Health Center in Sioux Center. |
Sioux Center Christian School first- and second-graders collected about 130 books for Promise Community Health Center in Sioux Center. The books will be used for Promise’s Reach Out and Read Program and in its waiting room.
First-grader Kianna Kooi was excited to donate “Andrew’s Loose Tooth” by Robert Munsch.
“I like that I’m giving them a book. I hope they enjoy it and have fun with it,” she said. “This is a book I used to really like. I don’t read it any more, so I want to give it to someone else who would like it.”
Jill Van Soelen, a first-grade teacher at Sioux Center Christian, said the book drive project stems from the Teaching for Transformation pilot program that Sioux Center Christian School is doing through the work of the Center for the Advancement of Christian Education and Dordt College in Sioux Center.
A big part of that pilot program is to have students “participate as restorers in the creation, fall, redemption and restoration story,” she said. Therefore, she was looking for a way her students could actively participate in restoration in their own community. Her school also was having a Literacy Week, and she was having her class write book reviews, so the book drive seemed like a wonderful combination project.
“The first-graders get to actively participate in being community builders and justice seekers by donating books for children and families,” Van Soelen said. “In doing this, kids get to act as agents of restoration.”
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| Sioux Center Christian School students Caitlyn Frens and Elena Te Krony read the books that they donated for Promise Community Health Center. |
The project started with three sections of first-graders – a total of 53 students. The students picked out new or gently used books, wrote reviews about the books that were inserted inside of them and then gave the books Promise. The second-graders thought it was an exciting project, so they got involved in donated books, too. That involved another 64 students.
The students donated a large variety of books – board books, picture books and easy readers. Van Soelen said all the books are in great shape, so the students really picked out books that they themselves would like.
“The students have embraced the project, and participation has been great,” Van Soelen said. “It was fun to see other teachers get excited about it, too. I would have liked to have heard the conversations between parents and their kids at home as the kids picked out their books to donate. Also, it would be nice to figure out a way to continue seeing how their involvement impacts others, so we will have to see what this leads to.”
Van Soelen decided that Promise was the perfect organization to give the books to.
“I was looking for an organization that served people below the poverty level, assisted children and reached out to Spanish-speaking people in our community,” she said. “I was open to any organization that did this, and God led me to Promise Community Health.”
In 2015, 50 percent of Promise’s patients fell at or below the poverty line. Another 41 percent were between 101-200 percent of that level. Also, 44 percent of Promise’s patients last year were 19 or younger. Promise serves many Spanish-speaking people.
“My deep hope for this project was that students would see that their community extends outside of their classroom and school walls and includes people in Sioux Center – primarily people who are not able to afford extras,” Van Soelen said.
Promise Community Health Center, headquartered in Sioux Center, is the only Federally Qualified Health Center in the far northwest corner of Iowa. Promise provides medical, dental, prenatal and behavioral health services. To learn more, visit www.promisechc.org.
ABOUT REACH OUT AND READ:
Many of the books donated through Sioux Center Christian School’s book drive will go to Promise Community Health Center’s Reach Out and Read program.
As part of the national effort, Promise’s medical providers talk to parents about the importance of reading aloud to their young children, offer reading tips and give each child who comes in for a well-child visit an age-appropriate book.
The goal is to help prepare children for success in school.
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| Sioux Center Christian School’s first- and second-grade students donated 130 books to Promise Community Health Center in Sioux Center during a book drive project. |