COLUMBIA — MU Health Care and Heart of Missouri United Way teamed up Wednesday afternoon to provide over 2,500 books to 650 first and second grade Columbia Public Schools students.
This is the fourth year of the Read Across Columbia event, and this year it was hosted at Alpha Hart Lewis Elementary School.
The other schools that received books included Benton, Blue Ridge, Derby Ridge, Elliott Battle and New Haven elementary schools.
“Historically, we’ve gone to about five different schools, and so this year we were able to go to six schools, which is really exciting because we can touch that many more kids,” said Talia Jackson, the CEO and president of Heart of Missouri United Way.
At the moment, the event is only for Columbia Public Schools, but there is hope in the future that the event may spread to the surrounding area.
“We’d love to expand it to more friends in Boone County and not just Columbia Public Schools,” Jackson said. “If folks are interested we can always use more sponsorships and donations to help us purchase the books and purchase the book kits.”
Daniel Boone Regional Library also gave each child a coupon they can redeem at the library to get a book for free.
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Columbia Public Schools Superintendent Jeff Klein, MU Health Care Health System Chief Operating Officer Tonya Johnson, and Heart of Missouri United Way CEO and President Talia Jackson pose for a photo with a mascot and a class at Alpha Hart Lewis Elementary School on Wednesday. The class participated in the “Read Across Columbia” event, where Johnson read the class the book “Evidence! How Dr. John Snow Solved the Mystery of Cholera.”
Michael Totosz, KOMU 8 Reporter
The health system chief operating officer for MU Health Care, Tonya Johnson, said she sees the event as an investment in the next generation, as well as a way to help with literacy.
“These are going to be our future doctors, our future nurses, our future health care professionals, our future teachers,” Johnson said. “So investing in getting those books in their hands early is really important.”
The event also tried to shine light on the joys of reading. To do this, Johnson read “Evidence! How Dr. John Snow Solved the Mystery of Cholera” to a group of young students. This book was included bags each child received.
“It had some great words that the kids could relate to and caused a little bit of laughter, so I knew they were following along and engaged,” Johnson said. “That’s really important, just taking them along the journey with me through the book.”
The book was about a doctor who ended up like a detective. He had to ask questions, search for clues and use evidence to help solve a mystery to keep people healthy.
The story, and the event as a whole, aimed to encourage the students to be curious, ask questions and use their brains to solve problems.