Friday, May 22, 2009
Written by: Christine Findlay
If you visited our web site in March you probably read about the Second Annual Race2Read, a friendly competition between the CHS track teams and the Wayne HS track teams. Our goal this spring was to top last year’s book collection of 2,862 books for Children’s Medical Center of Dayton. The project is supported by the district IMC Directors who put collection boxes in their libraries and promote both the book collection for CMC patients and the dual track meet between Wayne and CHS.
Reaching the 2009 goal of 3,000 books seemed like a daunting task. But Centerville students and their families never let us down, and in the end Centerville collected 4,806 books to donate. Added to the 1,100 books collected by Wayne HS, CMC was shocked to receive their largest book donation ever of 5,906 books!
“This project has expanded beyond my expectations,” said Coach Matt Somerlot , “and I want to thank the staff and students for all of your help and support for our program. We are looking forward to hosting the event again next season and will look to defend our team title with elk fans in the stands.” Elk track athletes took home the trophy-flag from their meet with Wayne on May 6th, which was the culminating activity for the Race2Read, and where admission to the dual meet was the donation of a book.
“When Coach Somerlot first approached the IMC Directors with his idea for a community service project for his athletes, we were pleased that he picked a literacy theme and wanted to work with us,” said Christine Findlay, Coordinator of Library Media Services for the school district. “Librarians love to get books into the hands of children and we love showing our youngest students how important and fun reading is. So when the track team members visit our primary schools to read with the students, we are thrilled. They are good role models for our students and they get the kids excited about reading.”
The days at Children’s Medical Center can be long ones for the patients. Having reading and activity books available to them can really help them pass the time and escape from the harsh reality of disease or injury. We’d like to thank our community for their caring and support. Keep saving any children's books you finish reading for our Third Annual Race2Read, next spring!
