CINCINNATI - The students at Cincinnati College Preparatory Academy are excited about their brand new library. The problem is the school doesn't have enough books to fill it.
Educators say It's hard for kids to do well in school without good reading skills.
"They're coming in behind the mark,” said Tiffany Williams, the elementary principal, “and we really, really need help with getting them to where they need to be - making up some academic gaps that we have or that we're seeing in our students."
Williams says her students haven't been meeting reading levels on state tests.
"With reading being such a big piece of every subject, this is impacting the math, the science and things like that because those tests are basically reading tests," Williams said.
She's hoping the library book drive will fix that. The school has about 1,000 books but their goal is 10,000. So they're looking for book donations and volunteers to help the kids read.
"I've been working with three of the third-grade classes since September and I love seeing how far the kids have come since then with their reading and math skills," said Vickie Lassandro, a volunteer.
Lassandro said she wanted to be a teacher, but life happened and it took her in a totally different direction. Now that she's retired, volunteering at the school has opened her life to new meaning.
"I walk in the door and the kids are so excited to see me,” she said. “To be able to see a kid struggling with something and I can help them and they have that aha moment and it makes sense to them.”
The school is accepting new and used books as well as donations to buy books for their library. They're also looking for volunteers to help students with reading.
