Elementary school students receive books to keep at home

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) - It’s not a fairy tale: Preschool, pre-k and kindergarten students at Mountain View Elementary in Spearfish are receiving one book every month through the “Once Upon a Time” grant. From January through May each student will receive a book to take home and keep.

“This particular grant is pretty exciting because its just Mountain View for just the 3 grades. And were giving them money for the teachers to purchase one book per month per child, to be able to take home. And so its pretty exciting to be able to do that for them to continue their reading at home,” Mary Pochup, Spearfish Foundation for Public Education, said.

The grant was designed to help build a home library. Kristi Delahoyde, a kindergarten teacher with the school, says reading can help boost confidence and social and emotional learning. An added benefit is creating a love of learning for the students.

“They are super excited when they get the books. When they see the book box come in, they cant wait for us to get them out to them and know what book they got that week,” said Delahoyde.

While the kids are able to keep one book a month, they are encouraged to check out books from the library and read through those as well.

“They are more excited just to grab a book, even if its something they know nothing about. They’re picking up books or pretending to read if they don’t know the words, they’re making up the stories,” Delahoyde continued.

The school will have to apply for the grant for the next few years, however if the grant does continue to impact students, then the school will automatically get the funding in the future.

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