Challenge nets thousands of books for at-risk youngsters at elementary schools
Scott Ober, Ober Elementary School principal, and Traci Davis, assistant vice principal, recently participated in a pupil-organized dare by transporting a mixture of cottage cheese, red gelatin, grapes and gummy worms in their mouth from one bowl onto a plate for 30 seconds.
The event marked the pupils' successful completion of a dare by the principals to bring in more than 10,000 books as part of the Kids to Kids program, a nonprofit literacy organization that gives new and gently used books to children so they can create their own at-home libraries. The 779 pupils at the school, which is one of more than 20 within the Summerlin master-planned community, collected 11,623 books, the largest donation since the program's inception in 2001, according to Debbie Carroll, community outreach director for the organization.
Advertisement
The books collected at Ober Elementary will go to the 1,000 pupils at Lois Craig Elementary School, a local school with pupils regarded as at-risk.
"Each student at Craig will be taking home approximately 11 books," Carroll said. "That's a significant contribution to a child's personal library."
Three other elementary schools within the community also plan to hold book drives; they are William R. Lummis Elementary School, Richard H. Bryan Elementary School and Alexander Dawson School at Rainbow Mountain.
The partnerships are the result of a donation from The Howard Hughes Corp., developer of Summerlin, and a grant from The Summerlin Children's Forum.
"Kids to Kids is a program that promotes literacy while teaching youth the joy of serving others," Hughes executive Tom Warden said.
Summerlin is home to more than 100 parks, trails, houses of worship, cultural facilities, business parks and nearly 100 model homes.
Single-family homes, townhomes and condominiums are available, priced from the mid-$300,000s. Custom-home sites are priced from the $500,000s.
Apartments offer monthly rents starting from the high $800s.
