By Anne Marie Amacher
The Catholic Messenger
DAVENPORT — In less than two weeks, students at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic School collected more than four times the number of books they had set as a goal for their winter reading challenge.
Prayer buddies Nate Timmons and Conner Darland of St. Paul the Apostle Catholic School in Davenport read a book together. The school collected books and inserted a review before donating to children in the Quad-City area.
Lorene Knobbe, curriculum director, said students were asked to bring in new and gently used books to be distributed to local agencies that support children. “We wanted to share the love of reading with these children,” she said.
So, from Jan. 12-24 students brought books to school. Boxes were labeled and placed outside the media center where students placed their donations. “We sorted the books by cardboard, picture, chapter books and novels. We even had some cookbooks and puzzle books donated.”
The original goal was 250 books, which is about half the number of total student enrollment. The students blasted past the goal, donating 1,053 books.
As a reward, students were able to wear pajamas to school one day. Older and younger students (prayer buddies) read books together and wrote a book review to put inside each book’s front cover. Books will be donated to Big Brothers Big Sisters, Project Renewal and Bethany for Children and Families.
