Glenbard students promote literacy in Chicago

Glenbard North High School sophomore Vinny Slobodecki has a simple reason for participating in Glenbard Gives Books, a districtwide effort that collects books for students in Chicago Public Schools.

He said it's good to share things with people who truly appreciate them.

“We don't think books seem like a difficult thing to find, the 15-year-old said. “But people in Chicago Public Schools, they want books and they want to read. It feels good to give them the books and help people out.

For the third straight year, students at all four Glenbard high schools took time after classes to help with the program. As club advisers and school officials looked on, the students crowded into the cafeterias to create bookmarks, pack boxes with books and glue encouraging notes on them.

The books will be delivered to Book Worm Angels, a Chicago-based group that provides in-class lending libraries. At three of the district's schools, area library representatives told students about a recent UCLA study that linked future academic success with the size of home libraries.

Each of the schools had student groups take the lead in the effort, including the Key Club, National Honors Society and Students 4 Students. At North, Slobodecki is vice president of Club Interact.

One of the club's advisers, special education teacher Erica Lindahl, said the drive benefits others but also helps the students who contribute learn a few lessons of their own.

“The reason we push for this is because it's important to promote literacy, especially to those who don't have the access that we do, she said. “But it's also a giving and receiving thing. When (students) are making a difference, they get that positive feeling that makes them continue helping those in need. What you put in you are going to get back and I think they feel it.

Club Interact has grown steadily since Lindahl and fellow special education teacher Michelle Efrom created the group three years go and now has about 35 members.

The club's president, 17-year-old senior Rosalva Reyes, said it has grown because of a strong cause and word-of-mouth.

“We all have that friend in the wrong footsteps, she said. “But by us saying we get involved, they want to do something to help.

The club has been at the forefront of the book drive since its start. On Wednesday, students decorated bookmarks and books for about an hour. Boxes lined the halls of the schools afterward and Slobodecki estimated about 400 books were collected at North alone.

“I like being here with my friends and it's for a good cause, said 17-year-old North senior Fatima Hussain, who has helped all three years. “And it's better than going home and wasting my time watching TV.