Students Learn and Explore at Annual Book Fair

While there are many skills Hendrick Hudson students learn in the process of attending the district’s annual book fair, there’s but one overriding emotion, and it’s evident in their smiling and wide-eyed faces.

“They’re just super excited,” Frank G. Lindsey kindergarten teacher Nupar Pal-Kolisz said. “To come in here and look at all the books, to browse, make a list, and then come back and shop, they love it.”

This year’s book fair — organized and run by the Hendrick Hudson Elementary PTA — will spend this week at Frank G. Lindsey before moving to both Buchanan-Verplanck and Furnace Woods next week. Students are invited to browse and create lists they can take home to their parents for further discussion. Each class will then return later in the week to make purchases.

The FGL gym was lined with book displays and adorned with decorations from Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” — a theme that ties into this weekend’s high school musical.

The welcoming atmosphere draws the students’ attention and serves as a highlight of the school year.

“As soon as they walk in here, everyone lights up,” HHE PTA member Rebecca Chess-Pettit said. “They are delighted to see characters or a book series that they’ve read before. This is something everyone can get excited about.”

The book fair will also open from 6-8 p.m. this week and next during evening parent-teacher conferences, which will allow parents time to browse and shop as well. Volunteers from the HHE PTA are available to work both during and after school. Although the shifts are taken next week at Buchanan-Verplanck, Chess-Pettit said more volunteers are required for Furnace Woods.

The PTA turns all proceeds from the book fair into Scholastic Dollars. Teachers then create wish lists and the PTA purchases books on those lists with the profit balance.

“It’s the same for all three elementary schools,” Chess-Pettit said.

In addition to helping strengthen the classroom libraries, the book fair experience also helps young students hone valuable skills. They need to identify the book title and price and write them on their lists.

They also have to consider how the books on their list fit into a budget.

“It’s a really valuable reinforcement of the principles we’re teaching them in the classroom,” Pal-Kolisz said.