Library Makeover

Today was the grand reopening of Jacob's school library. Target and the Heart of America Foundation awarded Jacob's school last June with a full makeover including a donation of 2,000 new books. They gutted the entire library and redid everything. Here is part of an article from the San Diego Unified School District's Website:

"Students, families and staff from Doris Miller Elementary, along with Target and The Heart of America Foundation� volunteers, celebrated the unveiling of the school's newly renovated library as part of the Target School Library Makeovers program, which transforms in-need school libraries to inspire a love of reading among students.

Renovations included new technology, paint, lighting, flooring and shelving, as well as customized wall art and murals. In addition, the library received 2,000 new books to fill its shelves. Each participating student and their sibling/s also received seven books to take home.

"Thanks to Target and The Heart of America Foundation, our students now have a much richer range of critical tools to develop and succeed academically," said Stacy Jones, principal, Doris Miller Elementary School. "We're honored to be one of the 32 schools in 30 cities to receive a complete library makeover. Faculty, students, parents and the entire Miller Elementary School community are thrilled to have a refurbished learning space with thousands of new books."
An important academic milestone in early childhood education is that students read at grade level by the end of third grade, and studies show that having access to a wide variety of reading materials is essential for kids to reach their educational goals.


"At Target, we recognize the integral role that reading plays in shaping a child's education and future, and we're committed to listening and acting locally to help kids learn and schools teach," said Laysha Ward, president, community relations, Target. "Through Target School Library Makeovers, students are given the resources they need to learn so that their educational futures know no boundaries."

As part of the Target School Library Makeovers, a total of 32 extreme library makeovers will be awarded to schools in-need in 30 cities, including Doris Miller Elementary in the San Diego Unified School District. The makeovers feature everything from eco-friendly design elements, 2,000 new books, as well as new furniture, shelves, flooring and technology. Eco-friendly elements include low VOC paint, sustainable carpet and furniture and responsible disposal of all waste created in demolition and construction.

Schools receiving a library makeover are chosen based on a number of factors, including the number of students reading below proficiency level, the percentage of students from low-income families and the overall need for library improvement. The majority of the 2010 unveilings are scheduled to take place from August to November.

Local Target team members who volunteer their time, talent and expertise to each renovation project lead the library makeovers. Additionally, the Target Property Development team provided specialized business knowledge through a variety of unique pro bono services that included leveraging their design, construction and project management expertise to help with the significant updates to the libraries.

"The library should be the heart of the school and the space that supports all of the learning that happens in the classrooms," said Angie Halamandaris, president and co-founder of The Heart of America Foundation. "By partnering with Target we're able to ensure schools across the nation are equipped with the resources students need to read, succeed and make a difference."

In support of this effort, Target and The Heart of America Foundation teamed up with Paragon, which supplied green-certified furniture and Smith Systems, which, in turn, supplied the use of recycled materials. Target also partnered with local Ryan Companies US, Inc. to help with the renovation construction efforts, and TK Products, who supplied the paint for the renovation. In addition, Paul Hempe and Chad Campbell from zerOw reDesign provided their services to create a mural in the redesigned library space. All partners helped make the project possible through donations and/or discounted pricing of services and supplies.

The Target School Library Makeovers program was launched in 2007 and features a combination of extreme school library makeovers, which include a complete renovation, and $500 Book Awards to schools across the country. Since the program's inception, Target has impacted more than 2,000 school libraries, distributed more than one million new books and donated tens of thousands of volunteer hours.

Target's commitment to the communities it serves involves funding education programs that nurture a love of learning and promote literacy among children. The Target School Library Makeovers program is one of the many ways Target supports education by acting locally to help kids learn and schools teach."

I joined Jacob and his class (along with Owen) today for the ceremony and most of the festivities (until Owen could not take it anymore). Talk about a wonderful experience! Target set up a HUGE screen and they played video of the library makeover. The Navy band was there and played the National Anthem along with the school color guard helping with the Pledge. Military members were honored. The speakers were heartfelt and wonderful. The highlights of the ceremony though, were first they skyped with the Author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. How cool is that? Several kids were able to ask him questions about his books and he donated a copy of his first book to each and every student at the school! The most heartwarming part of the ceremony though was the speaker from United Through Reading which is a program that helps military members keep in touch with their families. The ships all have them and sailors can read books on tape and send them home to their families so they can read bedtime stories to their children. The lady from United Through Reading showed a clip of several fathers reading and talking about the library makeover and saying hello to their families. All the sailors have children at Jacob's school. How exciting for these families to see their sailors! One of the children is in Jacob's class. I was standing near him and his mom when his father flashed across that huge screen. Talk about a tearful moment. The last surprise was at the very end when they were able to skype with all of the fathers live from the ship somewhere way out to sea a day ahead. How awesome it was for them to be able to see eachother even for just a few moments. The father of the boy in Jacob's class yelled hello and I love you loudly above everyone else. Watching his wife brought tears to my eyes. It is the little moments like that that you literally live for during deployments.

After the ceremony we enjoyed a free bbq lunch and then the boys each got their 7 books (8 for Jacob if you add in Diary of a Wimpy Kid). The school kids got a canvas bag to carry them in. Target also gave them big snack bags full of goodies. By that point Owen was more than done so I ran home to give him an hour nap before we had to be back to get Jacob from school but Jacob said he continued on to do a craft and to finally see the new library. He said its amazing and he can't wait to go check it out more Monday at his normal, regular library time. For now he is beyond addicted to his new book. He says he loves it because its funny and easy for him to read and understand. I promised him when he is done with it we will rent the movie. He and I are currently reading How to Train Your Dragon together too and we just found out it will be released on DVD when we go to Utah so I am pretty sure that will be the movie for the ride home. I wonder if Ian would be offended if I sat in back:)

As exhausting as the day was fighting with Owen in the humidity I am so glad I chose to go. It was very touching to see all that these companies have done for his school.
Here are the pictures!

Owen happily waiting for the school to let us in.

Look! I caught Jacob doing what he was supposed to be doing!! Reading in his class library for his center.

Walking out to the ceremony

Jacob listening with his classmates

Happily sitting in a stroller quickly came to an end after over an hour of doing so. So, this is what Owen did during the ceremony. Better than screaming? I say yes!

A photo of all the sailors on Skype saying hello.

Jacob wanted to take Owen down the slide. It was total chaos so this is the only shot I got but he was so cute. Owen will refuse to hold my hand when we are walking to/from school but he will gladly hold Jacob's the entire way.

Owen happy to be out of the stroller again having lunch with Jacob. However his idea of lunch was the chocolate milk and stealing ice from the ice buckets....
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These few are of Jacob getting his books and snack from Target. They had the cutest red circle rugs and pillows all over the grass so after they got their books and snacks they could lounge and eat and look at their books. By this point Owen needed to go though so I unfortunately did not take a picture.




Here is the loot! This is not including one of Owen's books and Jacob's Diary of a Wimpy Kid which he had stolen and was reading. He is about 25 pages in and I am thrilled it is something he is understanding on his own and loving. He gets better and better everyday at reading. Now if the writing would kick in as well. I think though, he is his father's son in that category.