Westwood Elementary School students helped Springdale Pre-K students receive free books monthly through the United Way of Northwest Arkansas and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
The school’s Education Accelerated by Service and Technology students participated in the project to help the Pre-K students receive the free books, said Lynette Curzon, Westwood Elementary School EAST facilitator.
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library provides free books by mail to children from birth to age 5, according to the United Way of Northwest Arkansas website. All children are eligible to receive the books.
The program provides participating children with their own library of books and equips families to support reading at home, according to the website. Children can become better prepared for school and ready to learn in kindergarten through the help of the program.
The first book in the program is “The Little Engine That Could,” according to the website, a favorite of singer-songwriter and program founder Dolly Parton.
The EAST students submitted all qualifying Pre-K students for participation in the program, Curzon said, and are working toward doing the same for some Westwood students.
“We submitted around 800 students in Springdale Pre-K, and it looks like we will submit an additional 100 Westwood students' siblings,” she said.
The program is free for participating students and is funded through donations, Curzon said.
“An anonymous donor is paying for all new submittals in November,” she said.
United Way of Northwest Arkansas is managing donations and program submittals for the counties of Benton, Washington and Madison counties, she said.
Program donations to benefit Northwest Arkansas students may be made online through the United way of Northwest Arkansas website..
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