TIONESTA, Pa. — This past summer author James Patterson teamed up with Scholastic Book Club and granted 5,000 teachers $500.00 and 500 bonus points for each winner to be used to buy books for students.

Any teacher could enter to win the money and points by writing an essay about how the money would be spent and get books put into the hands of students this school year. With over 100,000 entries, one local teacher earned this Classroom Library Grant for her second grade.

Although it was June and school had been out for a week and in the midst of the global pandemic of COVID-19, Forest Area School District teacher Erin Brannon was looking forward to the next school year. Scholastic Book Club runs a one-dollar book a week for students, so she was looking to see what was the Book of the Week when she saw the contest entry form and rules. Although she knew many teachers would enter this Classroom Library Grant, she thought she had nothing to lose by writing an essay on how she could get books into the hands of her students. Her challenge was to say it in a limited number of words.

Last school year, Erin sent a letter to several friends asking them to sponsor one of her students for a Book of the Month. Each sponsor would donate $9.00 and then each student would get the $1.00 book offered by Scholastic for the month. Several friends and family members posted this letter on Facebook and enough people volunteered that each child had a sponsor plus additional money to have a $5.00 birthday book. The students and parents were so excited each month with the new book and the opportunity to receive a book when the book club box arrived in the classroom. In addition to reading the book, Mrs. Brannon would have her students write a thank you note to the sponsor and tell them about the book.

So, using this platform, Erin wrote an essay using the same idea, but instead of asking for sponsors, she would use the grant money and bonus points to buy books for her students and her classroom.
Erin shared that Scholastic had a great thing going with the $1.00 book; however, in November it raised the prices to $2.00. That was worked out because she had enough sponsors to pick up the additional cost. She was amazed by the number of people in the community that sent money for her students along with a good feeling to see the interest that is part of the Tionesta community. Erin also had donations from high school friends and relatives. Although there was the outreach and interest of sponsors, she did not want to ask the same people again this year for a donation. Therefore, winning the Library Grant has allowed her to continue this fun and educational activity.

Each month the student receives a new book. Now, Erin doesn’t just hand them a new book and say, “Go read.” She opens the box in front of the students, allows them to take the new book back to their desk and read it alone and look at the pictures. As the students are reading, she puts a book plate in the front of the book that says it is a gift from the book sponsor. The students read the book each day with a friend or as a whole group. After a week, the students write a thank you note and address the envelope to their sponsor and drop it in the mail. Then, the students can take the book home and add it to their library.

Mrs. Erin O’Toole Brannon is in her thirty-fourth year of teaching second grade at West Forest Elementary.