Dreams really are coming true for students at this Ohio school. In Bryden, Ohio, an elementary school sprung for an incredible vending machine filled with children’s books! The book vending machine is a contribution of the Above and Beyond program, courtesy of the Beachwood Schools Foundation. Keep reading to find out more!
Encouraging Acts of Kindness
In a clever attempt to inspire and encourage open-mindedness and kindness from their students, the vending machine’s books are ‘bought’ by earning tokens. Students receive these tokens through acts of kindness. Teacher Michelle Mayer stated at the ribbon-cutting ceremony,
“We all look out for each other, we are kind, and we make sure everybody’s doing OK”.
Michelle Mayer
Bryden Elementary’s kindness initiative takes its inspiration from Carol McCloud’s children’s book, Have You Filled a Bucket Today? Sweetly illustrated, the book is a guide to happiness through acts of kindness towards others as well as oneself.
Spreading The Joy of Reading
The superintendent of the school district said,
“There is probably no more important job that we have in school than to make sure a love and joy of reading is inspired very early on with our youngest students.”
School District Superintendent
This is all too true. The students are already very eager to use the vending machine.
Many members of the school district attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony, as well as various local organizations who helped make this dream possible. Not only does this vending machine create more motivation for the young students to show kindness to one another, but it also helps greatly with increasing reading proficiency!
Overall, this is a huge win for Bryden’s young readers! We just can’t help but wonder one thing: Where can we get one of our own?
For gift ideas for the teachers in your life, click here!