Heather Bell
RADFORD – Hundreds of Radford City Public Schools students were treated to a free book and a frozen treat recently, as the Books for Bobcats Bus traveled the city bring joy to the children.
“To encourage summer reading, we launched the Books for Bobcats event, inspired by the idea of giving students brand-new books to enjoy during the break,” said RCPS Assistant Superintendent Dr. Melissa McDaniel. “There’s nothing quite like opening a new book of your own! Our goal was to excite students about reading and help them maintain their reading habits over the summer.”
According to McDaniel, students at McHarg Elementary School and Belle Heth Elementary School received their first book during the schools’ spring field day, “allowing them to start summer break with something to read and were also given a bookmark listing the dates and times we would be traveling through the city to deliver additional books in July.”
“To make the event special and reach as many students as possible, [the planning team] decided to take a bus around town with multiple scheduled stops—thus the Books for Bobcats Bus was born,” McDaniel explained. “To make it even more fun, we added ice cream to the mix. The Radford City Police Department has always been a great partner for our schools, and they provided the freezer for the ice cream and a special vehicle to ride along. One of our School Resource Officers, Derek Conner, escorted the bus around the city and helped to pass out ice cream to everyone.”
McDaniel thanked the planning team, which included Division Literacy Specialist Jayne Cox, reading teachers Kelly Wheeler and Diane Hurst from McHarg and Holly Billings from Belle Heth, library media specialists Sarah Sells (MES) and Bethany Smith (BHES), and me (Melissa McDaniel).
“We met several times this spring to organize the event, and our library media specialists helped us select the most popular books checked out by students, ensuring we ordered titles they would be excited to read,” she said. “We also included books for older students so anyone who came could find something to read.”
The bus made 11 stops throughout the city, to Fairfax Apts., High Meadows, Ridgewood Apts., College Park, Belle Heth, Copper Beech Apts., Willow Woods Apts., John Dobbins Park, McHarg, Hodge Field Park and Riverview Park.
“Scott Sadler drove the bus and did a wonderful job of getting us from one stop to the next on time,” said McDaniel. “He was also great with the kids.”
McDaniel said the books were purchased with grant funding designated for promoting student academic success and preventing learning loss due to extended breaks. Food Lion donated a gift card to purchase the ice cream. The Radford City Police Department provided the freezer, a vehicle and Conner. Ballpark Signs donated “Books for Bobcats” banners to hang on the bus.
The Title I teams at both schools helped organize the books for the bus. The transportation department and Gracie Duncan helped in planning the schedule and loading/unloading books. Principals and assistant principals at both schools helped load and unload books.
“We do hope to continue this next year,” said McDaniel. “We have the grant funding to make it happen one more year at least, and it was so well received that we would love to find a way to continue it for many years to come. There was a lot of excitement around our Books for Bobcats Bus! I am thankful to all of the people who helped to make it possible.”
