FOREST LEAVES — Nov. 30, 2005

Book drive benefits Mississippi school
BY CHRIS LAFORTUNE
STAFF WRITER

Roosevelt Middle School students are collecting books for a Mississippi school where a River Forest graduate is teaching.

About 1,500 books have been collected so far for Quitman County Middle School in Marks, Miss., Roosevelt PTO Service project committee Co-Chairwoman Jean Meister said Wednesday. 

Roosevelt alum Fran Martin is teaching fourth grade at Quitman County.

"It's in just a very poor region of the United States," Martin said.  

"It doesn't have quite all the funds we're used to here in the River Forest and Oak Park schools. Many of the shelves in the school's library are empty, Martin said.

I'm trying to put together a classroom library so my children have books to take home and read in class," Martin said.

One of Roosevelt's PTO parents heard about Martin's efforts, and the group has adopted the book drive for the eighth grade's traditional service project.

"We thought our kids could really feel connected to Frank and his school and, in a very concrete way, make a differe3nce for those kids," Meister said.

About 300 of the books collected come from the Scott School library in Melrose Park, Meister said.  Books have also come from the Riverside Public Library.

"About half of them have come from the kids collecting them at school," Meister said.

Roosevelt students will continue to collect books and school supplies until February, Meister said.

Martin is teaching in Mississippi as part of the Teach for America program, which sends people to teach at under privileged schools throughout the United States.