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Wauconda FBLA students launch community literacy project

Students involved in Wauconda High School's Future Business Leaders of America program have created a "Books for Bulldogs" literacy program to help improve the lives of others.

Jessica Diol, Shawna Weber, and Sam Bianco said the ability to read makes people productive members of society and also opens doors to success and helps to build on writing skills. The key to success in life and in school starts with communication, and literacy is an aspect of communication that they said they chose to focus on in the community service project.

"We created the program to improve the literacy in lower income families in Wauconda, as many of them have very few books in their homes available to read and access. We first started our project by contacting the school staff members in District 118 to notify them about the extensiveness of our project," the students said in a news release.

"We created eye-catching boxes and fliers to implement in all of the schools to spread awareness. We wanted to collect as many books as we could, so we started our project near the end of winter break."

Announcements were sent to the middle schools in Wauconda Unit District 118, and the students were interviewed by the high school's news program, The Bark.

The students have a scheduled a literacy night at Robert Crown Elementary for Feb. 18, where they will read to young children and inspire them with unique activities and games, the news release said.

With encouragement and help from students, parents and teachers, the project collected more than 2,100 books.

The students said they plan to recirculate their book supply to lower income families through "Meals For All," an FBLA monthly community dinner program held at the American Legion & Moose Lodge and at the Wauconda Food Pantry.

The student-led project placed second in the community service event at the Jan. 23 FBLA Area Competition at Warren Township High School. The students say they plan to take it to the state and national competition.

"We knew coming into this project that something big was happening, and as we progressed, we realized just how much of a difference we can make in improving the literacy in young kids and families across this community," they said in the news release.

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