Every year, PTA collaborates with the school librarian on a whole month of activities promoting literacy and encouraging students to read more. Events include a book drive/swap, Read-a-Thon, and the annual Scholastic Book Fair.

During the Book Drive, students are encouraged to donate used books from home into collection boxes located in their class pods. PTA volunteers organize donated books by reading level, then on Book Swap/Exchange day, each class takes a turn going thru the collected books and each student gets to choose a book to take home.

HOW DOES READ-A-THON WORK?

• Families set-up a donation page for each student using our GetMovin’ portal (school identifier: 65a98c1bd6360) to enable collecting donations/ pledges electronically. Paper donation forms are also sent home in the main Read-a-thon packet from school for collecting cash or checks. All donations are due back to the school, along with your reading log, at the end of the Read-a-Thon.

SET-UP STUDENT PAGES

• Also included in the Read-a-Thon packet is the READING LOG. Students color in the shapes on the reading log for every 20 minutes they read and turn the log in at the end of the Read-a-Thon, along with all donations.

• Donations are tax deductible: EIN 91-1486539. Donation receipts are in your packet.

• Donations can also be submitted via Venmo, directly to the EE PTA @edmondselem, with your students name included in the memo.


INCENTIVES

• Individual and class prizes are subject to change annually.

• Students who log at least 400 reading minutes (i.e., fill in 20 shapes on their log) will receive a gift certificate/credit to spend at the Scholastic Book Fair in March.

• Students who log any amount of time on their reading log are also entered into a prize drawing for electronic readers (ex. Kindle), Edmonds Elementary spirit wear, gift cards to local shops, and other surprises.

• Classrooms that get at last 50% of their student pages set-up will receive a class treat party.

• The 3 classes that raise the most funds during read-a-thon will win brand new books for their classrooms.

WHERE DO THE FUNDS GO?

  • School library programs and book collections (2025 Read-a-Thon resulted in $2,500 in new EE library books)
  • Updated toys and recess equipment
  • Campus clean-up and beautification efforts
  • Staff appreciation events 
  • PTA sponsored community events like Harvest Festival, Movie Night, and Spring Dance
  • Oher school programing and financial support (safety patrol field trip, 6th grade moving on ceremony, clearing negative lunch balances, etc)

KEY DATES FOR 2026:

• Book Drive 2/9-2/16

• Book Exchange 2/18

• Read-a-Thon 2/16-3/6

• Book Fair 3/16-3/20