SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - Fifth graders at Design39Campus in 4S Ranch raised more than $1,300 to buy books for kids in underserved San Diego communities — turning a class project into a broader effort to address a growing literacy gap.
The San Diego Council on Literacy says 51% of 3rd graders in the county cannot read at grade level. In underserved neighborhoods, that number climbs to 64%.
The students were motivated after learning that many kids in San Diego have little or nothing to read.
"These kids don't have books when we have, like, a whole library of them," fifth grader Emmett Qi said.
"Yeah, we just want to share our privileges with other kids," added classmate Ranjith Mini.
To raise funds, the class built and stocked a Little Free Library, sold handmade bookmarks at school, and wrote original short stories compiled into an anthology sold to parents.
"I wrote a story about two friends fighting," Riley Johnson said.
"(I wrote about) a kid whose mom, like, they get in a car crash. And he has to overcome a bunch of challenges," said Qi.
The effort paid off.
"We sold A LOT of them!" Mahika Valluru said.
The nonprofit Words Alive and the United Way, both of which have worked for years to address literacy in San Diego, partnered with the students on the project.
"That has to be the highlight of my year," Faryl Kander of Words Alive said. "Working with the kids just restores my faith that this is a solvable problem."
James McConchie of United Way said the students' initiative speaks for itself.
"It's just inspiring to see these young people," McConchie said. "They have the answers."
Words Alive says it has reached 6,000 families in the last year through its programs and, with the students' help, put more than 20,000 books into underserved communities.
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