Charity program brings English books to schools

Never underestimate a child's thirst for knowledge.

Students at four elementary schools were recently the beneficiaries of the new Grab the Reader project put on by The Prague Post Endowment Fund. It sought to provide English-language reading materials and jump-start English libraries in schools that otherwise wouldn't have finances to do so.   

"The kids actually jump on the box," Endowment Fund Director Bibiána Duhárová said of a December 2011 delivery of books to the ZŠ a MŠ Staré Město school in Frydek-Místek.

"It was the best part," said Endowment Project Coordinator Šimona Müllerová, who came up with the Grab the Reader concept.

But the best part for the kids was access to English books.

"The kids were absolutely enthusiastic about the books and immediately borrowed them to take home for Christmas," said Klára Španihelová, a teacher at ZŠ a MŠ Staré město. "Once they get back to school after the holidays, I asked them whether they had read them, and the vast majority of them nodded."

ZŠ a MŠ Dolní Bělá in Plzeň, ZŠ Eden Praha and ZŠ Mariánské náměstí in Uherský Brod also received books through the program.

"We have been thinking about having an English library before, and the students kept asking about it," said Petra Bentley, a teacher at ZŠ Eden Praha. "But the financing of such a project was a real problem. The children are really pleased with the books and are having fun with them."

The project was financed, in part, by proceeds raised by the Endowment Fund's semi-annual charity softball tournaments. Each of the four schools also received 1,000 Kč for a bookshelf, for housing what is hoped will become a growing collection of books. The publisher, Macmillan Education, contributed the books.

"You can't trick kids," Duhárová said. "These are fun books. They are fairytales."

Schools went through an application process that forced teachers to outline a plan for how they would utilize the books in the classroom.

"People approach us asking for donations quite often, but the difference with this one was that it was connected with a project," said Ondřej Matuška, Macmillan country manager for the Czech Republic. "It asked teachers to think about what they would actually do with the books, so we know they will not just sit on a shelf somewhere."

As government budget cuts across the board have eaten away at education funding, school leaders say the project came at just the right time.

"Schools have been lately struggling to be able to purchase books in times when the budgets have been increasingly cut down and down," said Bohuslav Jandásek, principal of ZŠ Mariánské náměstí.

"In previous years, we had some 400,000 Kč for teaching aids, including expenses on computers, projectors, globes and teacher training. Out of that, we spent some 100,000 Kč on textbooks. Nowadays, we receive half of that funding."

The 2012 incarnation of the program will target older students, of middle-school and high-school age, Müllerová said.

"And not just for the students, but also the teachers," Duhárová said.

Applications are due by September with books slated for delivery in December.

"Schools struggle to get enough money to run the schools," Matuška said. "There is never enough for extras. This is a way to help correct that."

- Klára Jiřičná contributed to this report.

Benjamin Cunningham can be reached at
bcunningham@praguepost.com