St. Gertrude students help to promote reading Fourth and fifth graders from St. Gertrude School are joining Super Bowl MVPs Peyton and Eli Manning and Scholastic Book Clubs to help donate one million books to disadvantaged children through “ClassroomsCare” Program to help promote reading.

This fall, students in Mrs. Vanessa Galvan-DeLeon’s class have pledged to read 100 books as part of Scholastic Book Clubs’ ClassroomsCare program. The philanthropybased literacy campaign is designed to teach children about the joys and importance of reading and giving.

“Kids have big hearts, and nowhere is that more evident than when children help children through the ClassroomsCare program,” said Judy Newman, President, Scholastic Book Clubs.

“Classes around the country are reading 100 books each. When they meet that goal, the Mannings, Scholastic, and our charity partners will put one million books into the hands of the neediest children. The kids in St. Gertrude get to see firsthand that their efforts can make the world a better place,” Newman explained.

LAMAR ELEMENTARY STUDENTS CELEBRATE HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH — Lamar Elementary students are celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month by learning about famous first Hispanic Americans. Students are also reading about famous Hispanics and their acheivements. Pictured is Elizabeth Garza’s kindergarten student, Makayla Payne, who is reading about the first female Hispanic astronaut, Ellen Ochoa. Ochoa’s first of four shuttle missions took place in 1991. To participate, classrooms join either “Team Peyton” or “Team Eli” and keep track of their progress using an oversize ClassroomsCare poster. A companion Web site lets classes share and compare their achievements with other participating classrooms around the nation. The Web site also provides activities, motivational videos featuring the Mannings, e-cards, a sweepstakes, and details on ClassroomsCare’s charity partners.

MATH CHAMPS - Students at St. Paul Lutheran School are encouraged to learn their math facts through daily practice and drills. Each six weeks students are recognized for earning the highest average in their grade. Averages must be 95 percent or higher to qualify. Pictured from left to right are the students who earned the title Speed Drill Champ for the first six weeks of the 2009-1010 school year: First grader Raymond Reich, second grader Bryson Goldman, and third grader Jessica Kelly. ‘Scholastic Book Clubs’ ClassroomsCare lets both students and teachers understand the goodness the act of caring and helping those in need brings. It also instills a passion for reading,” said Mrs. Galvan- DeLeon.

Scholastic Book Clubs and the Manning family will work with several leading charities to put books in the hands of the neediest children. Charity partners include Reach Out and Read, Save the Children, Blair E. Batson Hospital for Children, Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital, Peyton Manning’s Peyback Foundation, Mercy Health Partners, and the Eli and Abby Manning Birthing Center.

Since its launch in 2001, Scholastic Book Clubs’ ClassroomsCare initiative has enriched the lives of over 36 million children nationwide. More than 27,114,000 students from over 1,084,500 classrooms have participated in ClassroomsCare activities, resulting in the donation of over 9 million books to children in need.

The ClassroomsCare program is open to all classrooms nationwide through Scholastic Book Clubs catalogs and the Scholastic Web site (www.Scholastic.com/ ClassroomsCare).

Scholastic Corporation is the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books and a leader in educational technology and children’s media. Scholastic creates quality educational and entertainment materials, as well as products for use in school and at home, including books, magazines, technology-based products, teacher materials, television programming, film, videos, and toys. The company distributes its products and services through a variety of channels, including propriety school-based book clubs and book fairs, retail stores, schools, libraries, television networks, and the company’s Internet site, www.Scholastic.com.

For more than 60 years Scholastic Book Clubs have provided monthly catalogs offering top-quality books and reading materials from all publishers to teachers in preschool through junior high. Scholastic Book Clubs reach over one million teachers each month, providing the most sought-after titles at prices available for children in classrooms nationwide. The ClassroomsCare campaign is available to teachers and classrooms through Scholastic Book Clubs: including Firefly Book Club for preschoolers; Seesaw Book Club for kindergarten and grade 1, Lucky Book Club for grades 2-3; Arrow Book Club for grades 4-6; and TAB Book Club for grades 7 and up.