Clark Elementary kids get book gifts

Nine-year-old Morgan Burton and her 3rd grade classmates are getting a special gift each month this school year. The Clark Elementary students can thank customers at the Left Bank Books store in the nearby Central West End.

A group of bookstore customers have agreed to buy a book every month for a kid at Clark Elementary. The program runs from last October through next May.

Each month, about 40 Clark students get a gift-wrapped book. Each package is addressed to a specific student and includes the sponsor's name. The kids then send thank you notes.

The book-of-the-month for December was "Come Look with Me," by author James Rolling. The book provides explanations of different forms of African-American art. That was the third month in a row for the gifts.

(Rachel Smith coordinates the Clark book gift program for Left Bank Books. To learn more about the store, visit www.left-bank.com. If you have questions about the gift program, e-mail Rachel at Rachel@left-bank.com.)

Morgan said the Left Bank books go into the family's home library. "We have a lot of books at my home," she said.

But, she said she also borrows books from her teacher's classroom library. Kids borrow those books for one week at a time.

Fifth graders Fredricqua Haynes and Kenisha Bense also have been recipients of the Left Bank books. Both said they read a lot at home.

Eleven-year-old Fredricqua said, "If I don't have any homework, I read before I go to bed. My mother says I don't need to be laying around doing nothing."

Ten-year-old Kenisha said she gets a lot of her books from the city library branch which is near her home.

Cynthia Warren is the principal at Clark Elementary School. She said the Left Bank Books program helps the school put "extra emphasis to reading at home." The Left Bank books aren't given to the school; they are for each student to take home as his or her own.

Clark school, like all Missouri elementary schools, puts heavy emphasis on reading during the early grades. In 3rd grade, students are given a key state achievement test to measure how well they are being taught, especially in reading, language arts and math.

Principal Warren said the 3rd graders' MAP test for reading put emphasis "on reading for understanding."

She said reading proficiency is a prime building block for learning in all classes. "You need reading to be able to understand all other subjects," she said.

Morgan Burton said reading is one of her favorite subjects in school. She said her class has been studying about "cause and effect" situations. They try to find a "cause and effect" in a particular reading example.

"Then, we have to write a story with a cause and effect," she said. One of her stories involved a turtle and some fish, she said.

Morgan said she likes to read books in the Judith B. Jones series. She said she likes them because they are funny and everything comes out well at the end.

Fredriqua Haynes said she also likes "happy stories where people get along with each other." She said she has a "whole shelf of books at home." Fredricqua and Morgan said they sometimes get books as gifts for birthdays and holidays.

But, Kenisha said she's on the lookout for books when she's shopping with her mother. "If I see something I like, my mom sometimes will buy it for me," she said.

Of course, reading is only one of the activities for the kids.

Fredricqua said she likes to play basketball, football and soccer. She said "tackle football" is her favorite.

She said she wants to be a teacher when she grows up. "I want to teach young kids and help them learn," she said.

Morgan takes dancing and modeling lessons. She has dancing lessons on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Then, she said she takes modeling lessons at her church on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

She wants to be a dancer and model when she grows up "and also a first-grade teacher."

Kenisha also wants to be a dancer when she grows up. She doesn't take dancing lessons but gets help from a cousin who does. "When my cousin comes from her dancing lessons, she and I practice what she learned in class," Kenisha said.