Palisade, CO - Students at Taylor Elementary School has a brand new way to dispense excitement about reading! The school hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony on Tuesday, March 15, for their book vending machine, made possible by Palisade Rotary and Altrusa.
Taylor Elementary School Principal Jennifer Morrell wrote a grant request for $4,840 from the Palisade Rotary Club to purchase the vending machine, and Palisade Altrusa granted the school $4,000 worth of books from Scholastic to stock the machine.
The vending machine will be used for the school’s “Taylor Loves to Read” program, where students read at home, have their parents sign off on a reading log, and earn a free book based on how many minutes they read. Kindergarten through second-grade students in the program can earn a free book by reading for 500 minutes, and third- through fifth-graders can earn a free book by reading for 1,000 minutes. This year alone, more than 200 books have been given out through “Taylor Loves to Read.”
“We love the vending machine because students don't have to wait until the office staff has time to roll out the books for them monthly to pick from,” Principal Morrell said. “ We will now hand the students a golden coin when they turn in their ‘Taylor Loves to Read’ log, and they can immediately go and pick out a book from the vending machine.”
Ms. Morrell said she hopes the presence of a unique book-delivery system will promote the importance of reading for students and help them love books even more than they already do.