Thank you to the many parents, grandparents, and other family members who supported our Scholastic Book Fair held from November 9-20.  With over 1,000 books sold, the sales exceeded $8,500, setting a new school record, according to Mrs. Rhapsody Hahn-Chaney, ACS Library Media Specialist, who oversaw the Fair.

ACS also partnered with the Truth That Rocks Bookstore in Northfield, which supplied Christian books, devotionals, and other inspirational items for the book fair. “The mini-Bibles on a keychain were a big hit,” Hahn-Chaney said.

The Book Fair sales benefitted individual students as well as the school. For every purchase, ACS earns points to use for subscriptions to the Scholastic News magazine used in K-5 classrooms, for new books for the school library, and technology and educational supplies for K-12 classrooms.

“This year, we are beefing up the young adult literature section in our library to accommodate more advanced readers in the 5th grade and our upper school students who visit the library on a bi-weekly basis,” Hahn-Chaney said.  A total of $140.16 was also donated by individuals who made purchases during the fair that went toward the “All For Books” program. Hahn-Chaney said these donated funds have been used to purchase select books from Teacher Wish Lists that will be available on classroom bookshelves for students to enjoy.

Hahn-Chaney recognized and thanked a number of parents, grandparents, and staff who volunteered and helped make the fair a success, including: Gail Alford, Katie Boyle, Noriko Dorsey, Angela Lushina, Jessica Martin, Brenda Maurer, Karen Oblen, Patti Scardilli, Sandy Settles, and Ashley Vaccaro.  She also thanked a number of students who gave a helping hand — Ashlee Alford, Isabell Alford, Lily Boyle, Ethan Costello, Noah Engle, Keira Frontino, Jude Gibbs, Caedyn Hahn-Chaney, Gaebriel Hahn-Chaney, Victoria Hines, Richard Jackson, Asher Molina, Thomas Potenski, Austin Salcedo, Kalee Tardif,  Jade Thompson, Nathanael Thompson,  and Noelle Thompson.

Hahn-Chaney also noted that a “secret Santa” helped a couple dozen elementary students who did not bring quite enough money to cover their orders. “Our shopping assistants helped the younger students to shop within their budgets and guided them to make decisions accordingly, but if they were just a bit shy of the total at the register, the difference was paid by the secret Santa,” Hahn-Chanel said. This arrangement was explained to the students so that they would understand the concept of generosity and gratitude, Hahn-Chaney said.