This year the holidays will be a little brighter for the kids and teachers of School 5 in Paterson, NJ. For the last month, the Journalism class and Newspaper Club have been collecting new and gently used books for the 930 elementary age students of this school. Many of the children who attend School 5 are disadvantaged and often cannot afford school supplies or additional learning materials. Mrs. Petrosillo, West Milford High School English/Journalism teacher and Newspaper adviser partnered with Ms. Kristina Garnett, first grade teacher at School 5. The two have been friends for years, and Petrosillo recalled stories of times Garnett had to purchase supplies for the children with money from her own pocket. This holiday season, Petrosillo decided to do something about it.
The goal was to get 930 books so that each child could have his or her own book. Petrosillo started the collection by asking her own classes of students for donations and the book drive quickly spread from there. Posters were hung around the school, announcements were made daily, and then one student made a huge difference. Shaelyn Huber, a student in Mrs. Petrosillo’s 6th period Honors English class, brought in 60 books from her family’s library. The Hubers took the drive to heart and posted the cause on several Facebook pages including Moms of West Milford and West Milford Moms. There was a tremendous response almost immediately and the Hubers drove all over West Milford for one weekend picking up books. Some people gave away entire boxes and garbage bags full of books! “At one point I had 16 bags and two crates full of books sitting in my living room!” Shaelyn said. After being shared on Facebook, several surrounding schools including Westbrook and Maple Road elementary schools supported the cause with boxes of books for donation. “Altogether 1,325 books went through my house before being sent to Mrs. Petrosillo,“ Shaelyn said, and an additional 500 or so were donated from the High School students/staff and the surrounding schools.
Through the generosity of the West Milford community, the Journalism class and Newspaper club collected enough books for each child in School 5 to receive his/her own book and for every teacher to receive an entire box of books to begin or add to a classroom library. Thank you to all of the parents, students, and teachers who helped us reach our goal! Your generosity is very much appreciated. Happy Holidays!