With a shared commitment to giving back and supporting student success, National PTA®and Children’s Bookstore teamed up to donate more than 1,200 new books to students at LCPL Nicholas S. Perez Elementary School in Austin Independent School District. National PTA and Children’s Bookstore presented the books to members of the Perez Elementary School PTA and representatives of AISD during the 2014 Annual National PTA Convention and Exhibition in Austin in June.
“Spending time reading books is essential to help children develop their literacy skills and plays an important role in academic achievement. And to engage children in reading, it is important that they have access to books they will cherish,”said Otha Thornton, president of National PTA.
Each year, the National PTA Convention and Exhibition brings together thousands of parents, educators, administrators, policymakers and thought leaders from across the country to discuss key issues impacting children, families, schools and communities. As part of this year’s event, every convention participant was provided with a donation voucher and the opportunity to select a book for a child at Perez Elementary School. With the donations from convention attendees, every student at the school will receive their own book at the start of the 2014-2015 school year. Books also will be donated for the school library.
“Our goal at Children’s Bookstore is to help parents and educators find books that children will love,”said Jake Ball, owner of Children’s Bookstore. “We’re thrilled to donate books to the children of Perez Elementary. We hope each of these books is read and worn out by these wonderful students.”
Perez Elementary School was nominated by the Austin Council PTA and Austin Partners in Education to receive the books.
“The Perez Elementary School community was devastated by the flood that hit Austin in October 2013. Many families lost their homes and all of their belongings, including any books they had,”said Jennifer Carson, president of the Austin Council PTA. “We are honored to nominate Perez Elementary School as the recipient of the book donation. The families and children who attend the school are well-deserving of the books.”
