December 18, 2003

Spirit of giving is alive as Almaden schools reach out to Gardner Academy

By Kymberli W. Brady
Staff Writer

Every year, the holidays find people preparing for family gatherings and celebrations. Steeped with tradition, it is also a time filled with the spirit of giving. This year, there is a much bigger reason to give and Almaden Schools are collecting dozens of heartwarming stories of charity and sacrifice, along with hundreds of books—all on their way to help re-stock the extensive Gardner Academy library that was completely destroyed by fire last month.

“They had a phenomenal library and must have had 12,000 to 15,000 books in there,” said Los Alamitos’ Principal Lisa Gonzales. “Not only did they loose their library, but all the second and third grade classes were lost as well.”

In addition to buying books for their children during their annual book fair this month, Los Alamitos’ parents purchased books for the kids at Gardner Academy. “The children who are on the receiving end of these books are going to understand how much they’re cared for,” Gonzales added. “Its not just our school but schools throughout out district, neighbors, teachers, PTA—everybody’s pitching in.”

According to Gonzales, Scholastic made a substantial contribution and donations continue to pour in from parents and students. So far, they have delivered an estimated 600 books to the school and are still taking donations for new or gently used books as part of an ongoing drive to re-stock the library as well as the classrooms. “The biggest need is for second and third grade titles,” she added.

Graystone Elementary typically uses proceeds from its annual book fair every September to purchase an estimated 2,000 paperback books to be used throughout the school year as prizes for their students. This year, they instead decided to donate approximately 600 books to Gardner. “We already have a substantial library here,” admits Principal Jerri Kazmerczak. “We thought how lucky we are to have what we have, so let’s spread the wealth.”

Robert Lonergan, whose children attend Graystone, owns Daily Bite Publications and opted to pitch in by donating several grade-level orientated programs for the second through fourth grade classes burned out of the school’s main building. Daily Bite produces daily warm up activities to help teachers start their classes off with academic reviews, using binders and overhead transparencies. “When we heard the kids were displaced by the fires we thought we’d pitch in,” he said. “We try to help out wherever we can.”

“We haven’t started using the program yet, but I’m sure it will be great in supporting our teachers and getting the kids going in the mornings,” says Principal Millie Arellano.

“We also want to help the teachers replace their classroom libraries as they relied mostly on the books that were lost in their media center,” comments Simonds Principal Linda Kakus. “We are asking kids to bring in new or gently used books according to their grade level. I don’t know what we’ll finally end up with, but we’ve got about 250 books right now and hope to pick up more in early January.”

Kakus said the staff also made financial contributions and all the elementary school principals, rather than buying annual gifts for members of the school district, opted instead to make contributions to Gardner in their names.

The staff at Williams Elementary decided this year to each write a $15 check to Gardner in lieu of their annual staff gift exchange and held a drive to collect rainy day games as well as books for the classroom libraries destroyed by the fire. “It’s wonderful how the entire school community has pulled together to help both Gardner and Pioneer after the fires,” said Principal Susan Walker.

“This is absolutely incredible because we did loose our entire library in the fire,” says Arellano, who has already received hundreds of books and donations from area schools. “Books are a premium to any site and we know how valuable they are to the classrooms. To have these schools give of theirs to help us get our library back up and running is wonderful.”

True to the spirit of giving, Gonzales admits to having been especially touched when she heard of one first grader who had saved his allowance so he could buy two books for the kids at Gardner. “It touched my heart and made me appreciate being in this profession,” she said. “We’re truly part of a bigger school family.”