St. James Children’s Center students excelled in the school’s recent Read-A-Thon fundraiser. During the month of March, the school’s 44 preschoolers read a total of 2,461 books.
Ms. Ana’s class finished the month as the top class, with individual top reader honors going to Chase Venezia in Ms. Melissa’s class; William Walker in Ms. Ana’s class; Collins Kalus in Ms. Karen’s class; and Violet Muir in Ms. Rachel’s class.
“There are no words to describe how proud I am of our students,” said SueEllen Bennett, Children’s Center Director. “To see them brimming with excitement and developing life-long reading skills is so rewarding. I can’t say thank you enough to our parents and the community for supporting this event.”
Local independent bookstore Sandbar Books sponsored the Read-A-Thon and provided additional support by donating 10% of a purchase for any patron who mentioned St. James Children’s Center when shopping during the month of March.
Throughout the month, students were treated to special guest readers, including children’s book author Jim Arnosky and local community members including Susan Ashmore, Islamorada Fire Chief Terry Abel and Chris Morgan from the Key Largo library. The students celebrated their success on March 31 with a party and awards ceremony and for the special day they dressed as a character from their favorite book.
The Read-A-Thon was launched to offset revenue lost from the annual Fish Fest fundraiser, which was canceled for the second year in a row due to COVID. The event raised more than $17,000, which will help the school provide the instructional materials, books, arts and crafts supplies, playground toys and equipment, nutritious snacks and health and safety items utilized by students on a daily basis.
St. James Children’s Center was founded in 1984 and is a non-profit preschool, offered as a ministry of St. James the Fisherman Episcopal Church to the Upper Keys community. The objective is to provide each child with a healthy environment in which to grow. In an atmosphere of love, each child can develop physically, mentally, socially and intellectually to his or her highest potential.
