WASHINGTON (Feb. 23) – Howard University students, in response to a news report of a Washington, D.C., high school that doesn’t have enough books in its library, have launched a campaign to collect and donate more than 1,000 books to Washington Metropolitan High School as part of their annual Alternative Spring Break program.
The students are asking faculty, staff and students at Howard University, as well as bookstores, publishing companies and individuals throughout the Washington D.C. area,
for high school appropriate fiction, non-fiction and reference books.
The books will be presented to Washington Metropolitan High School, which is in its first year and is now setting up its library, with Howard students’ help. During the week of March 14, Howard students will help label and categorize the books and stock the library’s shelves. Their work will be presented Monday, March 21, during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the school’s library.
Tanishia Williams-Minor, principal of the school, praised the students for their efforts.
“This book drive initiative is truly amazing,” Williams-Minor said. “The teachers and staff here at Washington Metropolitan work hard everyday to encourage the students to pursue an education after high school.
“As adults it is hard to effectively convey that message. This book drive is the first step to showing the students that the community wants to invest in their future as well.”
Antonita Pratcher, a junior Health Education major at Howard, is the site coordinator for the students’ effort in the Washington area during the Alternative Spring Break program and is leading the book drive. |
