Purchase books for Mr. McAdams' classroom library

Aloha! I am a fourth year teacher at Wheeler Middle School in Wahiawa, HI. My school is located on an Army Airfield and has a predominantly military student population.

For the past three years, I have been fortunate enough to receive funding to purchase books for my classroom library. Each of the books that I ordered are selected by my students. I have found that this approach to stocking a classroom library is far more effective than trying to guess what my kids might be interested in. When students have a say in what types of books are in their space, the likelihood of them engaging them skyrockets. There have been numerous occasions where I have witnessed kids who don't typically read for pleasure grab a book purely because it was selected by one of their classmates.

I am confident that this approach to building a classroom library is effective. Last year, 93% of my students passed their state ELA assessment. This was far above the state average of 50%. Typically, I rely on state funding to help purchase these books. Unfortunately, the pool of money was much smaller this year. The option to fund projects using state money ran out within days and did not allow my kids time to request the books that they were interested in.

If you are able to, please consider donating any amount possible towards my kids' classroom library. 100% of money raised will go directly into giving them the ability to engage with books that they are excited about. Thank you in advance!