Book vending machine a hit at Monroe Center Grade School

A book vending machine at Monroe Center School combines the fun of a prize dispenser with the excitement of new books.

Monroe Center Grade School in the Meridian School District #223 has had a lot of great things happening in their building this year.  While students have academically made advancements to their learning like never before, our teachers have been key in their learning and development of instruction, and the data is representative of just that.

Our students have had a few surprises along the way to celebrate what they are doing with leadership and their learning.

Even though the school has been through much with the pandemic in mind, not unlike other district schools across the country, our library decided that during the pandemic while so many of our students were reading more than ever that we would try to do a Read-a-thon to get students excited about the progress they were making individually while navigating through it all.

With that in mind, we had one of the most successful library fundraisers ever, thanks to our incredible community.  Mrs. Brooks, our library director, was key in this entire process. Her vision of what we could do to impact student learning and love of reading was incredible.

When last year’s Read-A-Thon was launched, we never could have imagined the incredible response of our students and families.

At the time of year when students tend to “wind down,” they were instead reading like crazy! Our hearts were touched by the generosity of parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, neighbors, and local businesses willing to support and encourage our students to read.

We truly have a very special community. Our students read and read….  raising a mind-blowing $10,000 last year!  This enabled our library and school to purchase needed items as well as “fun items” that all benefited our students.

“We were able to purchase additional new book titles, replace some of the well-loved titles that were falling apart, and acquire needed rolling carts to feature popular series books in the library.  “The student prizes for our reading programs such as the Bluestem program and Million Word Wall got “an upgrade” and we were able to give the library a little “facelift” in the décor department.

These opportunities were exciting, but probably the most exciting purchase was one that would never have been possible without the generosity of those supporting our Read-A-thon.

Mrs. Simpson had always dreamed of having a book vending machine, which would combine the fun of a prize dispenser with the excitement of new books.

With our fundraiser, this dream became a reality and our Monroe Center students now have opportunities to acquire their own brand new books in this fun and motivational way, not to mention building home libraries at the same time.

When asked about what the hope is for the use of this vending machine, Mrs. Simpson replied, “Just helping students get excited or continue to be excited about reading while using it to celebrate leadership and incredible accomplishments in the building is key.

“We want all of our students to be able to celebrate their wins whether large or small and this is another way to do that.” When asking students how they like the vending machine they said it’s better than candy.

We encourage community members to check out our book vending machine when visiting Monroe Center Grade School. It is custom wrapped with our school district logo and a “magical” book theme to match our belief in the magic of reading. Thank you all for your tremendous support. We look forward to our next Read-A-Thon coming to MC in April.