When teachers set up a free ClassroomsCount™ campaign, they set their students up for success. In many cases, these students wouldn’t have access to books unless it was for their dedicated educators—who often have had to pay for books out of their own pockets.

These 10 teachers are putting books in their students’ hands by raising money through Scholastic and their communities. Read on for their inspiring stories!

Start your own ClassroomsCount™ campaign today.

Creating Joy After Hardship

Last summer, many of the families in Ellen Giunchigliani’s community faced multiple challenges—including the aftermath of California wildfires and COVID-19 spread. 

Ellen knew that books could help her second-grade students escape from the stress they were facing for a little while, so she raised $500 through a Scholastic campaign to send a book home to each child monthly and to start a virtual book club. 

“I think books can help bring joy and escape from what you’re dealing with,” says Ellen. “I’m a strong believer that kids need to have a home library, and there’s just something so precious about having books of your own.”

Without her campaign, some students may not have had access to the books they needed to grow and succeed this school year.  

“Quite a few schools in my district are lower income, and there just isn't disposable money for extra things,” Ellen says. “Right now, I can’t give students my classroom library, so this is one way I can really teach reading—which is so important in second grade.”

Providing a Trusted Way to Donate

Trust is a big factor when it comes to asking your community to donate to a campaign. Literacy coach Kristin Kolodziej says that her Scholastic campaign differed from other fundraising efforts she’s done because contributors could be certain that their contributions would go toward literacy. 

“Scholastic is a familiar name that people trust,” says Kristin. “I think they felt confident that every dollar they donated was going to go to books for kids.”

When Kristin started her Scholastic campaign, she set her goal at $430. Before long, she exceeded her goal and was able to provide 20 students with an average of six books each over the summer. Some students even eagerly waited at their windows for her to arrive, she says. 

“It will really help students who might not have had access to books maintain their skills and interest in reading,” says Kristin. “It also makes that connection with me, so they’ll know I was the one delivering books to them and be able to seek me out once we’re back to school in person.”

Creating a Book-Mobile for Kids

Chrissy Casey and three other teachers had been dreaming of a Book-Mobile. Filled with kids’ favorite reads, it would drive through local neighborhoods and allow kids to check out books like a library on wheels. 

However, for more than five years, it never happened—until Chrissy saw the opportunity to create a Scholastic campaign. “I called up my friend and said, ‘Look, this is what Scholastic is doing! I think it’s meant to be,’” she says. 

Chrissy has been teaching in her district since 1999, and when she posted her campaign on social media, she received an outpouring of support from her community. Parents of her former students shared the campaign with their networks, and soon, even complete strangers were donating. 

Within just a couple of weeks, Chrissy had exceeded her goal of $1,000. The Book-Mobile was about to become a reality. 

“Originally, we were going to do the Book-Mobile out of my car, and my husband said, ‘There is no way all those books are going to fit in your car,’” says Chrissy. “So we got a trailer, he built the shelves, and the boxes of books started to roll in.”

In the months that followed, Chrissy drove the Book-Mobile to neighborhoods in her community. She was elated to see kids’ eyes light up when they saw tubs of Dog Man books and other favorite titles. 

“This has truly been a bucket-list item, and it was the highlight of our summer to see the look on the kids’ faces when they came to pick out books,” says Chrissy. “I just know if it wasn’t for us, a couple of communities wouldn’t have gotten books. This is the one access they have to books.”

Chrissy will continue to drive the Book-Mobile to local neighborhoods and put books in kids’ hands throughout the year. 

Finding "Book Fairies" for Students

Carrie McDonald was scrolling through her phone one day — when she noticed that Scholastic was giving teachers a way to raise funds for their class. 

Inspired, she created a ClassroomsCount™ campaign within 10 minutes. In it, Carrie wrote that she was raising money to sponsor students in her kindergarten class with monthly books — and asked for "book fairies" to support her. She shared it on social media (doing so makes it 4 times more likely that your campaign will get funded!) and told her community that it would be the perfect birthday gift for her 45th birthday. 

Within two hours, her community funded her original goal of $180. 

"I think using the term 'book fairy' really worked to create a personal connection," Carries says. "I make cute labels that say 'From Your Book Fairy" that I put inside each of the books, so parents know it came through a Scholastic campaign."

Since the campaign was earning even more than she expected, Carrie decided to expand her goal to $360. This new goal would also give each child a hardcover book of their choice for their birthday! In less than a week, her new goal was funded. 

“I couldn’t believe how fast the campaign hit its goal,” says Carrie. “It was so much easier than having to collect money on my own through checks and cash. I posted it, promoted it, and contributors were able to leave a comment, which was really nice.” 

Feeling Appreciation for Teachers

This year, teachers and students are facing uncharted waters. It’s exactly why teacher Sarah LaShomb raised money through Scholastic to give monthly books to her fourth and fifth graders. Reading can offer a sense of consistency and keep kids learning, even when school and public libraries are closed. 

Sarah posted her Scholastic campaign at 2 p.m. one day, and by the next morning, she had reached $500 in contributions. 

“It was an outpouring of love and support that makes you tear up,” says Sarah. “As teachers, sometimes we feel so undervalued or like we have the most stressful jobs in the world. But it’s really great when you see people really coming together behind you with support, and understanding that your job is going to be so difficult this year.”

In fact, Sarah says that because this campaign has enabled her to get books to her students so easily, she plans to start a new one regularly. 

“Because of the support I’ve gotten and what it’s allowed me to do for my kids—which is something I will always fight for—I definitely think I’ll be using it every year moving forward,” says Sarah.

Creating Book Bags for Students

Jordana Egan has 17 students this year, all of whom are learning completely virtually. She started a Scholastic campaign to give each child a monthly book and an extra special book three times per year, but when she met that goal within a few hours, she expanded her campaign so she could give each student two books monthly. 

By the end of her campaign, Jordana had raised $420—far exceeding her $250 goal. She’s already created and sent book packs home for her students, who will now have several titles to read together as a class or in their free time. 

“Kids still need books in hand—books that are on their level, books that are hard for them, books that are easy, and books that they want to reread time and time again,” says Jordana. “I think it builds their confidence. You can’t duplicate the feeling of turning the pages of a book.” 

When her students peeked inside their book packs, Jordana says they were beaming and excited. Although Jordana has raised money for her class before, she says starting a Scholastic campaign made it easier to collect and spend funds. 

“Having it so easily available rather than me having to put money in my savings account and keep track of it all was nice,” says Jordana. “I was able to have those dollars available to spend right away.” 

Helping Kids Excel in All Subjects

Jennie Harriman once used an online campaign to raise money for a classroom tablet. However, because she was required to meet her goal or lose all of her contributions, she ended up putting $1,000 of her own money into her campaign to fund it. 

With her Scholastic campaign, however, Jennie was able to spend every penny the moment she received it. 

Jennie started a campaign to give her students monthly Scholastic Book Club titles at their level to read at home. Within eight hours, she met her goal of $350 and even inspired other teachers to start their own campaigns. 

“A lot of other teachers asked if they could basically copy what I did,” says Jennie. “Our PTA was looking for ways to support students, so they opened up their Facebook page for the teachers in our school to promote their campaigns. It was this very sweet coming together of my community.” 

Normally, Jennie would let her students take books from her classroom library if they didn’t have access to them at home. However, with her class learning remotely right now, that was impossible—which is why she was intent on getting books into her students’ hands. 

“From what I’ve seen, the more kids read, the better they do in all of their subjects,” says Jennie. “It also increases their creativity and their imagination. Engaging their brains is super important, and really the main way they can do that right now is through books.”

Building a Diverse Library

Shan Ashby says social studies is her passion—but that’s not always the case for her students.

In Shan’s own words: “Social studies is my favorite thing to teach in the whole world. Through the years of teaching, kids have no knowledge of the world or other cultures and perspectives. All of that was certainly eliminated with George Floyd, with all of the comments on Facebook and things like that. I think if we’re exposing kids to different ideas and different perspectives through literature in elementary school, that can really open their minds to having more civil conversations and seeing things from a different perspective.”

One way to do that was by getting the right books in their hands. 

Shan originally set a goal of $300 to purchase a class set of Chains and Blood on the River through her Scholastic campaign. However, when that goal was exceeded quickly, she set her goal to $500 to get more books for her students—and ended up raising $765 total. 

“I did not expect that to happen at all, but I’m very grateful that people believed in my vision and me as an educator,” says Shan. “It’s a really great way to let your community know what’s going on in your classroom.” 

With the extra money that she raised, Shan purchased more diverse books for her classroom library. “I was able to get a lot of books with Black and Brown people at the center,” says Shan. “We’re bursting at the seams right now with books!” 

Getting Chapter Books to Third Graders 

It’s not always easy getting third graders to read. Jenn Marsh, however, knew exactly how to spark her students’ excitement about books. 

She started a Scholastic campaign to raise money for monthly books to give her third graders. Jenn wanted to help her students love reading again by selecting books with every single student in mind—something that would also help her students improve their comprehension, vocabulary, and background knowledge. 

“My original goal was to have a monthly book for each child this school year, which is nine months,” says Jenn. “I ended up getting 11 books for each child, and then some—plus I still have money in my campaign to use!”

It was important to her to get her third graders not just books that would inspire their love of reading, but also chapter books that they could grow into. 

“I always see that third-grade students have a lot of picture books, but they don’t have a lot of chapter books, which is what they need to start reading at this age,” says Jenn. “I knew they wouldn’t have that plethora of chapter books that they really need, so I wanted to put those in their hands as quickly as possible.”

When her students signed on for their virtual classes, they excitedly thanked Jenn for the books and held them up to the screen for her to see. 

“They were excited, which made me excited,” says Jenn. “The parents were also super grateful that they were able to get all of these books at the beginning of the year.”

Finding Support After a Cross-Country Move 

In July of 2020, Hannah Adams made the big move from Minnesota to Arizona—and she started teaching her very first class just 11 days later. 

To help get her students set up for success, Hannah started a Scholastic campaign. Her original goal was $207, but she ended up raising $430. She says sharing her campaign on social media made it easy to raise the money she needed. 

Now, she plans to send the new books to her students in the mail, which they’re eagerly awaiting. “I just feel so thankful that they get the opportunity to get all these new books,” says Hannah. “They’ve been asking me every day when they’re going to get them!” 

Most of Hannah’s campaign contributors were friends and family from her hometown. She says it was an outpouring of support that made her feel more confident as she started her teaching career in a new state.

“I’ve definitely been missing my family being in a new place, and having that love and support being transferred to my classroom and students was a really awesome thing,” says Hannah. “I really hope all teachers take advantage of the campaign, because the more we can do for our students right now, the better.”

Raise funds for your students today. Start a ClassroomsCount™ campaign in minutes and get ready to build a love of reading this year. 

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