ALA Award Winners

The American Library Association posted tne 2010 winners for its many catagories of awards. I immediately added appropriate winners to my intended purchase lists, if they weren't already there.

Perhaps the most famous award is the Newbery. The winner and two of the runners-up are just right for the Prairieview Library.

The winner is When You Reach Me. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate and The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg are the two runners-up that work well for Prairieview.

The Caldecott Medal is also a very well-known award. It is given for the best illustrations. The winner and the two runners-up are both going to be added to the Elizabeth Ide collection.

The Lion & The Mouse was the winner, with All the World and Red Sings from Treetops qualifying as runners-up

Classes in the I.M.C.

At Elizabeth Ide, we will spend the month of January reading Illinois Monarch Award nominees. The vote will take place early in February. This program is intended for Illinois students in kindergarten through third grade. A list of twenty books is nominated by an adult committee and then the children choose their favorites. It is a big boost to an author to have a nominated book.

Because of the testing at Prairieview, we spent the week reading aloud to the students. There were an amazing number of relieved faces on both students and teachers when I explained that we were taking a break from more serious lessons. The students can only focus in on so much important material in any given day. We will be reviewing genres of books for the next couple of weeks. This is a preparation for the Illinois testing.

Math-A-Thon Results at Elizabeth Ide

In the recently completed Math-A-Thon, the students at Elizabeth Ide School helped themselves by practicing their math and helped the children at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, by raising funds. More than $4,000 was contributed by the sponsors of seventy of our students. All participants received a certificate of appreciation. Those who raised $35 or more received a free ticket for Six Flags and a T-shirt. Those who raised $75 or more received a backpack. Those who raised $125-$249 recieved their choice of a dartboard, basketball, pocket radio, headphones, or a 6-in-one game set. One student contributed between $250 and $499. She chose a pair of binoculars. The school received a plaque and a clock/thermometer.

The Math-A-Thon program makes it possible for St. Jude to treat patients regardless of a family's ability to pay. St. Jude is the only pediatric cancer research center where families never pay for treatments that are not covered by insurance. No patient is denied treatment because of a family's inablility to pay.