Pupils collect 2,000 books for children in need

MARION - Standing before tall stacks of books - about 2,000 in all - 10 Novak Elementary students read aloud letters addressed to their local legislators.

'I want to help out kids who don't have access to books at home,” a fifth-grader named Lauren read from a handwritten note. ' ... Reading is so important.”

Students at Novak Elementary, a Linn-Mar district school at 401 29th Ave, collected books for Reach Out and Read Iowa, a non-profit that encourages health providers to give books to children and teach parents about the importance of reading during well-child exams. Wilkins Elementary, 2127 27th St., and Indian Creek Elementary, 2900 Indian Creek Rd., also participated in the drive.

'Going to the doctor is one of the most universal points of access,” said Molly Olinger Topf, Reach Out and Read's coalition leader.

More than 90 percent of children between 6 months and 5 years old interact with a medical professional, she said, and those years are critical for brain development.

State Sen. Liz Mathis, D-Robins, and Fred Schuster, regional director for U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, talked to students about their commitment to early education after students shared their letters.

'What you did in preschool, it helps build your brain,” Mathis said. 'It helps build your brain so you can come into school and you're ready for school, and school is ready for you.”

Mathis told students and teachers in the room that she'll push for more funding for schools at the Statehouse.

Schuster also advocated for more access to preschool.

'Did you know that not everybody was able to go to preschool?” he asked about 100 students sitting cross-legged in the library. 'A little more than half (of students) were not able to go to preschool. You're ahead of them, and it's not fair that they're not able to go.”

The event was organized by Linn-Mar High School senior Sruthi Palaniappan, a student ambassador for the Save the Children Action Network, a non-profit that advocates for expansions of early childhood education opportunities.

The books will be given to three area clinics: Eastern Iowa Health Center, Cedar Rapids Pediatrics and Mercy Pediatric Clinic. Collectively, those clinics serve more than 20,000 children annually, Reach Out and Read said.

'We All want to have a healthy community,” Dr. Ursula Livermore, who practices family medicine at the Eastern Iowa Health Center, told students. 'Not only with our water, and our vaccines, and our exercise - but with our language, and our books, and our learning.”