Our high school is made up of approximately 1,250 students. Our school is located in a fairly large city. However, the community we serve is positioned in one of the more rural areas. The majority of our students are from white, middle-class families. Around 20-30% of our students come from economically disadvantaged families and a little less than 15% of our students have disabilities. Despite the size of our school, our student body is made up of a group of mostly well-behaved, dedicated students that are more like a family than a student body. We have a high graduation rate (over 94%) and over 96% of those graduating plan to go on to some kind of post-secondary education.
Our students' achievement rates continue to increase from year to year.
However, for the past several years our school's focus has been to increase student literacy not only to improve test scores, but to prepare students for successful futures.
My Project
By providing students with quality reading selections, we can help to ensure that students will build the life-long habit of reading for pleasure. When a runner wants to increase their speed at running a mile, the best way to improve is simply to run. The same goes for reading. The best way to become a better reader is to read more. Unfortunately, the number of students who read for pleasure continues to decline as they grow older, despite its many benefits.
Every student can become a reader if they are introduced to the right books, and empowered to make their own reading selections.
The books chosen for this project are recent award-winning novels with diverse plots, characters, and authors that will offer our students myriad choices when selecting materials for reading.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Hartsell and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.