Kelly High School Students Help Donate One Million Books to Children in Need

Benton, Missouri - September 11, 2009 - 9th-12th graders from Kelly High School are joining Super Bowl MVPs Peyton and Eli Manning and Scholastic Book Clubs to help donate one million books to disadvantaged children.

This fall, students in Miss Grissom's class have pledged to read 100 books as part of Scholastic Book Clubs' ClassroomsCare program. The philanthropy-based literacy campaign is designed to teach children about the joys and importance of reading and giving.

"Classes around the country are reading 100 books each. When they meet that goal, the Mannings, Scholastic, and our charity partners will put one million books into the hands of the neediest children. The kids in [name of your school] get to see firsthand that their efforts can make the world a better place," Newman explained.

To participate, classrooms join either "Team Peyton" or "Team Eli" and keep track of their progress using an oversize ClassroomsCare poster. A companion Web site lets classes share and compare their achievements with other participating classrooms around the nation. The Web site also provides activities, motivational videos featuring the Mannings, e-cards, a sweepstakes, and details on ClassroomsCare's charity partners.

"Scholastic Book Clubs' ClassroomsCare lets both students and teachers demonstrate our spirit of service and sharing while also instilling a passion for reading," said Lindsey Grissom, Kelly High School Teacher

Since its launch in 2001, Scholastic Book Clubsʼ ClassroomsCare initiative has enriched the lives of over 36 million children nationwide. More than 27,114,000 students from over 1,084,500 classrooms have participated in ClassroomsCare activities, resulting in the donation of over 9 million books to children in need.