Sometimes a great idea is sparked, and with a little passion, that idea can grow into something spectacular. PAKRAT (People And Kids Reading A Lot Together) Roll N Read was the idea of Talahi teacher, Sara Martini, after visiting a national conference in Washington, D.C. where another similar idea was already up and running. Martini with the help of Beth Lovdahl, another teacher in the district, started the program at Talahi Community School.
The PAKRAT program (an internal reading system that has books categorized by reading levels at elementary schools) allows students to check out PAKRAT books in addition to their library books. Since its inception, many of the district’s schools have followed suit and also rolled out the PAKRAT program. Martini partnered with Lovdahl to expand the program to outside of the school.
They got the idea of using a bus to go out into neighborhoods around Talahi to bring books to kids during the summer. Paul Novak, a district employee, created the shelving design to go inside the bus so that the shelves could be wheeled off and put on the bus for safe traveling. Then with the help of Apollo students, who made the shelves, the idea just continued to grow. Martini and Lovdahl started with a special education bus with a lift so that the bookshelves could be lifted down and rolled out on the sidewalk and then loaded back into the bus at each stop. For three years, the bus traveled around Talahi neighborhoods delivering the books. It just wasn’t enough! The ambition was to go districtwide.
The idea grew even bigger with the thought of purchasing a bus that could be customized and that could travel districtwide to allow students across the area to have the opportunity to check out books. With the help of school board member, Bruce Hentges, connections were made and grant applications were filled out. The St. Cloud Rotary Club gave $15,000 to purchase a bus. The Local Education Activities Foundation (LEAF) Board of Directors contributed a $10,000 grant to help purchase books and a Scholastic Books grant worth $8,000 was awarded to the program to purchase books. New Flyer painted the bus and was able to get the paint donated by Axalta Powder Coating. Other contributors: District 742 Administration and Transportation, Bernick’s, Theisen Manufacturing, Don Farleo of ADCO, Rheaume’s House of Lettering, Bremer Bank and countless volunteers helped to get the program rolling and continue.
A new bus with an attractive paint job, stairs so students can walk up into the bus to check out books and volunteers not having to roll the carts of books on and off was able to expand to the entire district. 2,318 kids checked out just under 4,500 books from Clear Lake to St. Joseph in just seven weeks.