WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) – Students at Booker T. Washington and Scotland Park Elementary Schools can now earn books from a vending machine, thanks to a new initiative by the WFISD Foundation, Inc.
The two vending machines were donated by Atmos Energy, costing around $5,000 each and holding up to 200 books. The schools were chosen for their connection to low-income families who may not otherwise be able to build a personal library.
Students will be able to earn special tokens for the machines by showcasing leadership qualities or through other positive accomplishments, with one token redeemable for one book.
Superintendent Dr. Donny Lee said the best part of the project is that students helped select the books that fill the machines.
“They won’t go to the book vending machine and look in there and find books that they don’t love because they selected them. And so as it’s refilled, we’ll continuously ask the students, what are some books you’re interested in? And we’ll make sure that we stock them with those,” Lee said.
Executive Director of the WFISD Foundation Nikki Davis said she hopes the program helps students form connections both in and out of the classroom.
“They can now have conversations about those books. Maybe they read it together and talk about the book. So I hope it just supports their interest in literacy, takes them on new adventures, and they can share the books with others, their siblings at home, their parents,” Davis said.
At Scotland Park Elementary, Principal Scott said the new machines also give students a visible goal to work toward.
“My hope is that they are going to work hard in class so that they can earn this reward and they’re going to be able to walk by it every single day and peer into what they want as their prize and be able to get that prize when they meet their goal,” Scott said.
WFISD officials said they hope the program inspires a lifelong love of reading among students throughout the district.
With the success of these first two machines, book vending machines donated by Atmos Energy are expected to be installed at all 14 elementary schools across WFISD.
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