By Lisa Scott
Special to The PREVIEW
The Scholastic Book Fair is coming to Pagosa Springs Elementary School Oct. 15-26 during school hours in the school library.
Families, teachers and the community are invited to attend the fair, which will feature a special theme: Enchanted Forest Book Fair — Let Your Imagination Grow!
This is an exciting time for students at the school and many activities at the school accompany the book fair, as it is a fun and gratifying way to increase interest in reading for pleasure.
Parent/teacher conferences are Oct. 15, 16 and 17, and the Book Fair will be open during these after-school and evening hours. Book fairs are scheduled to coincide with parent/teacher conference nights so there are many opportunities for busy families to visit the fair together. Students love showing their families the decorations and the books they have their eye on.
Family Night will be held Oct. 24 from 5 to 7 p.m. The Partners In Education Committee, or P.I.E., has organized another fun evening. A delicious, nutritious and fun homemade dinner will be served and there will be many other “enchanted” activities.
Individuals attending the book fair can also help build individual classroom libraries by purchasing a book for a teacher through the Classroom Wish List Program that is highlighted within the book fair.
Students visit the book fair with their class to preview the books for sale, especially the new releases. There are a wide variety of books and price ranges available and there is always a huge supply of bargain items as low as $1.99. Students also view the “Author DVD,” supplied by Scholastic, which features authors discussing the books they wrote with kids in mind.
The elementary school has been hosting a book fair since 1982. The school hosts one book fair per semester and the proceeds are taken in the form of scholastic dollars and books for the school library. Scholastic dollars enable the school to order a vast array of educational supplies at a considerable discount.
Proceeds continue to be used to “makeover” classrooms with alternative student seating, area rugs, SMARTboards and projectors. Additionally, bean bag chairs were purchased for library seating. Proceeds also assist with purchasing the meal and entertainment for the Family Night event.
The book fair will offer specially priced books and educational products, including newly released titles, award-winning titles, children’s classics, beautiful hardback books, interactive software and book titles from more than 150 publishers. There are products for all age ranges and many excellent gift ideas.
The community is invited to attend the book fair as a shopper or volunteer during book fair hours as the event is hosted in the school library and staffed by volunteers. For more questions or to volunteer, contact Lisa Scott at 264-2730 or sranch@centurytel.net.
