ESCANABA, Mich. (WZMQ) – The Webster Kindergarten Center has a new resource that aims to promote literacy in students by making reading a reward.
“I was at a basketball tournament for my son probably about two years ago,” said Begindergarten teacher Lisa Gagnon. “I walked into their elementary building and saw a book vending machine. I knew right there that was something that I needed to get for our school.”
The Webster Kindergarten Center just installed a book vending machine of its own. The machine is adorned with balloons, a ribbon, and flashing lights.
“We’re always striving to find creative ways to get books into the hands of students,” said Webster Kindergarten Center Principal Krista Johnson. “This is something that’s pretty engaging and exciting for kids, and we’re seeing the excitement and enthusiasm already.”
In addition to encouraging reading, the vending machine also promotes personal growth.
“A few years ago, Escanaba Schools embraced Stephen Covey’s ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective Students,'” Johnson said. “It promotes leadership. We thought, ‘What a great way to reward our students for leadership qualities, to get a free book.'”
The names of students who demonstrate leadership will be put into “Caught Being a Leader” buckets, displayed next to the vending machine. Names will be drawn once a month, and those students will receive Inchy Tokens, which they can put into the machine in exchange for a new book.
“They are excited,” Gagnon said. “They think it’s so cool.”
The purchase was made possible in part by the support of community members and local organizations like Kiwanis and Lions Clubs.
“We also reached out to the Dr. David Dewar Pay It Forward Foundation, and they generously funded the remaining portion of it,” said Johnson.
Gagnon says the goal is to make reading a reward for students for students rather than it feeling like a chore or an assignment.
“I think it promotes reading in a positive light,” she said. “We don’t want kids to look at reading as a punishment; we want them to look at it as something fun and exciting. It’ll also help kids be exposed to early literacy. They’ll have books in their hands, books at home to read with parents. One thing that we really try to promote here is reading to their students, even if they can’t read yet.”
Johnson says it will also put students on a path to becoming leaders at an early age.
“Anytime we can acknowledge leadership in students, it’s a bonus,” she said. “Our kids are showing those leadership qualities on a daily basis, and we feel they need to be rewarded for that.”
The first drawing has yet to take place, but Gagnon says students are already excited for it.
