Hardwick Elementary School Receives Literacy Grant
by Sarah Hall
WATERBURY CENTER – The Children’s Literacy Foundation has announced that the Hardwick Elementary School is one of 10 schools in New Hampshire and Vermont selected to receive a $25,000 CLiF Year of the Book literacy grant during the 2022-2023 school year. A nearby school, Glover Community School, was also a grant recipient.
The CLiF Year of the Book is awarded to elementary and middle schools serving pre-K through grade-six that have demonstrated a commitment to literacy and creative ideas for celebrating reading and writing.
“CLiF was so impressed by the enthusiasm of all our Year of the Book grant applicants,” said Program Director Meredith Scott. “Their dedication to their students and their community, especially with the difficulties of COVID, and the creativity with which they plan to apply Year of the Book to their classroom and school calendars, really inspired our team.”
Goals for the Year of the Book are to create a culture of literacy within a school community, encourage reading and writing, integrate literacy into other areas of the curriculum, increase family engagement in literacy, and make high-quality books accessible to all students. The program offers author and storyteller visits, inspiring literacy activities, fun family events, new books for both the school and local public library, new books for classrooms, and 10 new books for each student to choose and keep.
The Year of the Book kicks off at the beginning of the school year with a storytelling presentation and an initial book giveaway. Additional literacy events and book giveaways continue through the year.
CLiF is a non-profit organization whose mission is to nurture a love of reading and writing among low income, at- risk, and rural children up to age 12 throughout New Hampshire and Vermont. Since 1998, CLiF has supported and inspired 350,000 young readers and writers through its literacy program grants and has given away $9 million in new, high quality children’s books. For more information about CLiF, visit clifonline.org.
