Jenks Book Mobile Helping Kids Read Over The Summer

Some kids groan when they see that summer reading list. But Jenks Public Schools Foundation, a non-profit, is trying to make reading not only more exciting but accessible.

The Trojan ‘Read the Way’ Bookmobile meets kids where they are. With each bus stop, its encouraging children to put the technology away and pick up a book instead.

Every Tuesday and Thursday of the summer, children and their parents can pick two books each to take home. The bus has driven to different parks and neighborhoods over the past five years.

With the help of teachers like Liz Wright from Jenks Public Schools, every child not only goes home with new books but a chance to improve their literacy skills.

"I think it helps with the vocabulary and understanding.,” Wright said. “I have kids who have struggled to read. I look at some of their reports, and I can tell that their reading levels are lower, and I have a lot of kids who I talk to about the book mobile, and they go, oh I don't read, well yeah, you don't read now, but you just haven't found the right book."

From chapter books to graphic novels, there is something for everyone, like Steffani Gentry and her two sons, Will and Grayson.

"It's really great having something so accessible; we look forward to it each week in the summer, and it's been a great exercise for the kids, so like picking out their own books that they are interested in, it keeps things fresh, and exciting for the summer,” Gentry said.

250 people are boarding the bus each week. Wright’s glad the community is using the resources, but to provide the books they need help in ways of donations.

"Our real goal is for kids to have libraries at home,” Wright said. “They don't have to return the books; a lot of them are new; we try to get as many new books as we can; some of them are gently loved, but we want kids to have a library at home so they can read any time they want."

For more information on how to donate, click here.

If you have Something Good you would like to share, email us at Somethinggoodnewson6@griffin.news