Elementary school ditches traditional book fair for book giveaway

 The Scholastic Book Fair can be a wonderful opportunity for students to gain access to new books and other fun and exciting educational products. But for students from low-income households, the Book Fair isn’t as appealing. 

At Cook Literacy Model School, instead of having a traditional Book Fair, this year they opted for a Book Giveaway where every student in the school received a book for free. The event was made possible by the Reynolda Rotary Club. 

According to Principal Celena Tribby, the Rotary Club has partnered with the school on several different projects over the years, including sponsoring the Book Fair. But this year they decided to do something different. 

“The Reynolda Rotary support of Cook isn’t something that’s new, but this year we decided to craft the Book Fair in a different way,” Tribby continued, “because it’s hard when you have a Book Fair and parents don’t have the financial means to be able purchase a book.”

The giveaway also aligned with Cook’s educational model, which was adopted in 2016. As a literacy model school, at Cook the goal is to expose students to literacy in every content area. “We want to promote the love for books and the Book Giveaway does that, it puts books in their hands,” Tribby said. 

Thanks to the partnership with Reynolda Rotary and Bookmarks, every student at Cook received two brand new books free of charge. When selecting the books for students, organizers made sure they contained relatable characters, plots and events. 

“Many of the books mirror our children,” Tribby said. “The main characters are Black and brown children and it’s amazing to see these little people looking at the books and how excited they are.”

Principal Tribby is currently in her second year as the leader of Cook. Prior to joining the Cook family, Tribby served as principal at Kimmel Farm Elementary, Hall Woodward Elementary, Latham Elementary and Easton Elementary. Earlier in her career she served as assistant principal at Konnoak Elementary and as a teacher at the Downtown School. 

Tribby earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. She also has a master’s degree from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro.

When discussing her goals for Cook moving forward, Tribby said one of her main goals as principal is to expose her students to new experiences and ideas. 

“What we’re trying to do is broaden their horizons because there’s more to life than their community and Winston-Salem,” Tribby said. “We’re just trying to provide those experiences.”

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