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Early College High Receives $10,000 Grant
J.D. Clement Early College High School received a grant from bestselling author James Patterson to support its school library. In addition, Scholastic Reading Club will match each dollar of Patterson’s donation with “bonus points” that teachers can use to acquire books and other materials for their classrooms. Early College High School was selected amongst thousands of applications for funding grants.
Teacher Marjorie Light submitted the $10,000 grant for ECHS. She is currently researching education in Great Britain as a US Fulbright Distinguished Teacher, chosen by the US Department of State. In addition, she is also a recipient of a Kenan Fellowship through NC State. Light wanted help with the fledging library she built for the school.
“When I first started working at ECHS,” Light said, “I was surprised they did not have a lending library in the school, so I decided to build one. I wanted to create a love of - and a culture of - reading at the school. I'm thrilled to say our little library has a high circulation rate!”
After donating her personal collection of thousands of Young Adult novels, Light sought donations from the YA author community. Principal Gloria Woods-Weeks was behind the library from the start, supplying shelving, along with funding for literature circle sets. Retired Director of Media Services, Mary Gray Leonard, was also instrumental in getting the library started.
Now under the direction of English teacher Alice Dominguez, the library club is thriving. The grant funding will go toward buying more books, especially in the non-fiction and world literature sections, as well as additional shelving to hold the expanding collections. Comfortable seating and a scanning checkout system are some of the improvements included in the grant.
“Our students have really built a culture of reading because of the library. So often I hear them recommending books to one another and discussing their favorite genres,” said Dominguez.
Schools entering were asked to share the story of their school library, including past efforts to make improvements and “great ideas to help create a brighter future.” Patterson personally read and selected the winning recipients of the grants. Based on past winners, school libraries across the country have been using this funding to purchase new books, add bookshelves, make improvements to their catalog systems, and expand their programing.
The full list of grant recipients is available online at http://www.scholastic.com/pattersonpartnership/recipients. To learn more, go to mediaroom.scholastic.com/scholasticreadingclub and follow #PattersonPledge on social media.
J.D. Clement Early College High School is a small high school serving approximately 400 students in a rigorous curriculum including college courses leading up to two years of college credit, and provides in-depth support for students in those rigorous academic classes. The school has had a 100 percent graduation rate for each of the past four years, been recognized as one of Newsweek’s Top High Schools in America for the last two years, and earned an A or A+ School Performance Grade from the state for three consecutive years. Principal Gloria Woods-Weeks was recently named the 2017 Durham Public Schools Principal of the Year.