My Students

Rita Mae Brown, a contemporary American author, once said, "When I got my library card, that's when my life began." Our school is in its second year of existence and is in dire need of a library: help our students' lives begin!

Our school was founded with the notion of bringing a high-performing high school to the most under-served district of our city in order to help students of low socioeconomic status make it to and through college.

As our school is just beginning, we currently do not have a sufficient library of young adult novels for our students to read. Last year, the average reading level of our incoming 9th graders was between 5th and 6th grade. It is critical that our students have engaging literature on their level in order to progress their reading growth to the point where they will be on grade level by the time they leave high school.

My Project

After surveying our students from last year and seeing success with these books, it is integral that our new 9th grade class comes into school with a strong library in place to begin the year with an emphasis on reading. Last year, our students declared in the beginning of the year that they hated reading, but throughout the year we found that these novels changed that. Our students last year loved these books and have begun to become avid readers because of them. However, without a library, these books were in short supply and many students did not have the chance to enjoy them. This year, we want these books to be in a library for all of our students to check out and enjoy for themselves not only now but also in future years. Help us build our school's library with engaging, relatable novels that will inspire students to become readers, which will change the trajectory of their lives by eliminating their current reading deficiencies.

Funding this project will help build a library so that every student that attends our high school can develop a love of reading and "begin their life." Currently, our students' low reading levels almost guarantee that they will not be successful in high school and college, but if they are able to develop a love of reading now, they will be able to begin a life that is on the path to college.

Help our students get the library that they want and deserve: one filled with high-interest literature.