THJ opens campus bookstore
A new campus bookstore at TH Johnson Elementary School means students now can shop for reading material year-round, adding to collections of favorite titles at home.
The idea of starting a campus bookstore came from watching the excitement of students perusing the school’s weeklong Scholastic Book Fairs but noticing not every pupil could purchase a book, educators said.
Aislynn Serrano takes Everett Le’s “money” to buy a book from the new store.
“Every student has the opportunity of shopping at our ‘Leader in Me Bookstore,’” said counselor Renee Schneider. “They can earn ‘Duck Bucks’ at school and then use their ‘Duck Bucks’ to purchase books from our bookstore.”
With a grant from the Taylor Educational Enrichment Foundation, the prekindergarten and kindergarten campus took the first step in opening a school bookstore with a trial run on the final day of last year’s book fair.
“We used donated funds and Scholastic dollars earned through the book fair to buy new books,” said librarian Brenda McNulty. “We set up a special ‘Duck Buck Bookstore’ for those that were not able to shop at the book fair. It was a great success.”
Named after the school’s “Leader in Me” initiative, the bookstore is open for classes to visit.
Teachers are also encouraged to stop by when they want a quiet place to enjoy a good book, showing pupils that reading is enjoyable.
In addition to promoting reading, students also learn financial literacy as they manage their “Duck Bucks” and decide the number of bucks needed to make a purchase. Prices range from one to three “Duck Bucks” per book. Cash is not accepted. Students also take on leadership roles in the store, working as cashiers, deciding on prices for the books and helping to manage inventory, teachers said.
McNulty and Schneider said the school is open to receiving donations of gently used books for the “Leader in Me Bookstore.”
Titles appropriate for ages 7 and below may be dropped off in the school office. Favorite topics among young readers include dinosaurs, Legos, Pete the Cat, princess stories and superheroes.
“Anything we can do to show children that reading is important and get books into the hands of kids, that’s a good thing,” McNulty said.
The school held a special ribbon cutting for their store in March with the Taylor Independent School District Ambassadors as special guests.
Violet Aleman (left), Lola Selin, Wesley Taylor and Camila Bueno-Williams explore the new campus bookstore at TH Johnson Elementary School. Photos courtesy of Taylor Independent School District
Students looking over the choices in the TH Johnson Elementary School campus bookstore.
