October usually conjures up visions of fall leaves and spooky tombstones that say “R.I.P.”—but students in the Santa Maria-Bonita School District are now focusing on a slightly different set of letters: “RIF.”
The national Reading Is Fundamental “Books for Ownership” program is donating free books to more than 11,500 local children throughout the month. District schools are holding their book distributions through Oct. 31. At some of the schools, students are dressing up as their favorite literary characters to celebrate the event.
RIF distributions usually take place in October, December, and February. This is the first distribution for the 2008-09 school year. Students who are at school for the entire year will receive three books by the year’s end. Last year, approximately 30,000 books were given to Santa Maria-Bonita students.
The Reading Is Fundamental program focuses on serving children who are at risk of growing up without books, including students whose families move frequently to find work. In past years, only students in the Santa Maria-Bonita School District whose families qualified for the district’s Migrant Program received RIF books. However, a federal grant and a recent $12,000 donation from Santa Maria’s Shoes for Students nonprofit organization enabled the district to open the program to all of its students.
Some popular books selected last year featured Junie B. Jones, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Curious George, Dr. Seuss stories, Wayside School, Sammy Keyes, Shredderman, the Magic School Bus, and origami and drawing.
Founded in 1966, RIF is America’s oldest and largest nonprofit children’s literacy organization, serving 5 million children nationwide. The group has been giving books to students in the Santa Maria-Bonita School District since 1978.
School Scene is compiled by Staff Writer Amy Asman. Information should be sent to the Sun via fax, e-mail, or mail.
This article appears in Oct 30 – Nov 5, 2008.