Breed students participate in book fundraiser

LYNN-While it is often a struggle to get teenagers to read for enjoyment, especially if the book is not part of a classroom assignment, a group of 20 Breed Middle School eighth graders proved the task is not impossible, and supported a good cause in the process.By participating in the Scholastic Books Classrooms Care Program, the students met their goal of 100 books in two months, resulting in the company’s donation of 100 books to needy children across the country.The students read on their own, without the benefit of classroom credit, and filled out mini-book reports on index cards to validate their efforts. When their goal of 100 books was met, Scholastic kept up its end of the bargain, making the charitable donation.”What I found inspiring is that my students undertook this challenge and read 100 books for needy kids even though it was not part of a class assignment and no one received any class credit for reading,” said English teacher Nancy Mades. “In fact, when I first presented the program to my students, no one even asked whether there was anything in it for them. They just jumped on the opportunity to help provide some books for kids who otherwise wouldn’t have them. Too often these days we open a newspaper or turn on the television and read about how selfish, greedy and uncaring teenagers are. I think what my students did goes a long way to show how many really great kids there are out there.”The students that participated in the program are LaSaidy Rodriguez, Nichole Patten, Fransisco Perez, Kristen Kurpiel, Allison Kurpiel, Stacye Mauricette, Mayra Leon, Daniel Kong, Fransisca Daniels, Kelvin Damien, Karen Huu, Alicia Cruz, Davena Heard, Kayla Cronin, Nicolle Kuleska, Yvette Scanlon, Zach Berlan, Melissa Castillo, Winzell Bluefort and Corinthia Blanco.