ROWLAND — Southside-Ashpole Elementary students were given books to read this summer to help promote literacy and a love for reading.
The books, which were paid for through Innovative Partnership Grant funds, were distributed to all students at the school spanning preschool through grade 5.
“The purpose is to help build home libraries, encourage reading, develop a love for reading in our students, and allow learning to continue during the summer,” said SAES Principal Isabel Jones.
“Reading is the key to learning and we want all of our students reading on grade level,” she said.
Book titles included both fiction and nonfiction selections that encourage early readers to explore the world around them. Some titles included “The Snake’s Diary by Little Yellow” by Ella Clarke, “Sea Life” by Dona Herweck Rice and other selections.
Reading “builds vocabulary, promotes independence and self-confidence, supports imagination, stimulates curiosity” and more, according to the Literacy Project.
For more information about how to support reading at home, visit The Literacy Project’s website or access the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s Digital Children’s Reading Initiative on NCDPI’s website.