Marshalltown High School Class of 1989 members (from left) Geoff Hubbard, Kimberly Morford Baeth, Julie Wise Batterson, Lynette Buchwald and Amy Pollard stand with boxes full of books for kindergarten and first grade students.
A generous gesture by Marshalltown High School Class of 1989 members ensured kindergarten and first grade students at all six Marshalltown Schools elementary buildings got a book of their own Tuesday.
The classmates said it brought immense joy to hand out the 700 books to students this week.
“It’s so nice to just be able to give the books to the kids,” said Class of ‘89 member and Hoglan Elementary teacher Amy Pollard.
She said the idea came from previous efforts to get books into the hands of Hoglan students.
“I just told the story to (fellow classmates) about some of the kids in my classroom last year and their reactions to getting books and how they were like ‘I can keep it? It’s my book?’”
The students certainly got a kick out of picking a book to take home this week. Kindergartner Kamaeya Tribby picked up a copy of “Paddington and the Magic Trick” and said she was excited to take it home to read with her mother.
“It has fun things in it … it has cool drawings,” she said.
Fellow kindergartner William DeFoil also said he was excited to read his new book, one from the “Pete the Cat” series.
“I want to put mine in my book box,” he said.
Pollard said she hopes to continue this kind of book-giving activity in the future. In addition to this year’s book giveaway effort, the Class of ‘89 also raised $1,000 toward the Veterans Memorial Coliseum rebuild in downtown Marshalltown.
