Used PHS textbooks to receive second read in African nations

Fundraising sales aid drive by Small Learning Communities group.

By: Rachel Silverman
   Where do old, out-of-date public school textbooks go?
   Do they sit in some unmarked storage closet collecting dust, only to fall into disrepair?
   Or is there some good use for this tossed-aside repository of taxpayer dollars?
   "It is the answer to this question that has been perplexing me for years," Princeton High School history teacher Carol Joyce admitted in an e-mail last week. "Book closets and offices get full to overflowing, and most teachers hate to just discard books.
   "I have been trying to figure out how to donate books that our district no longer needs and that could be useful to other schools," she continued. "In the past, I was not able to locate a book drive interested in old texts, because the postage fees are prohibitive."
   But solutions sometimes pop up in unlikely places, and for Ms. Joyce, a student community-service project answered her call for help.
   "Our academy was given the task of coming up with a community-service project to help other children around the world," math teacher Lisa Krueger explained, referring to the Small Learning Communities group she co-leads with English teacher Bryan Hoffman and Ms. Joyce.
   And prompted by this challenge, the group of 40 students decided to ship books, as well as school supplies, to needy African students.
   "One of my students attended school in Ghana, and through his contacts, we have learned of this need," Ms. Joyce said. "Some of the books will also go to the libraries in these schools. Both schools are in Accra or its environs."
   The traveling texts will also make their way to South Africa, thanks to another connection established by the Princeton Regional School District.
   "Our liaison told us they need everything at these schools," Mr. Hoffman said, citing the enormous need for supplies.
   The book-shipping effort, in fact, is not only beneficial for those on the receiving end, but has also provided some valuable lessons for PHS students.
   "We talked about the implications and what we hoped schools in Africa and Ghana would get out of this," Mr. Hoffman said.
   In addition to scouring the school for extra supplies, packaging heavy boxes of materials and embarking on a publicity campaign for the service initiative, the students have also been involved firsthand with fundraising efforts, including the sale of sunglasses.
   "The sunglass sale is going well. We’ve raised nearly $300 so far," Mr. Hoffman reported Monday afternoon, referring to a fundraiser at PHS this week. "Our last day for the sale is this Wednesday from 12:50 to 1:10."
   But thanks to the generous donations of neighboring companies, students do not have to stress too much about raking in the big bucks through sale of sunglasses, as the shipping costs will largely be taken care of.
   "What has been so heartwarming has been the reaction of some community businesses that have come forward and are trying to work out the shipping costs," Ms. Joyce said, citing donations from several groups that would prefer to remain anonymous.
   "This would make all the difference in the world, because it would allow us to send more books and use the fundraising money to buy more supplies," she added.