Valpo High School book drive effort speaks volumes

VALPARAISO | AmeriCorps volunteer Meagan Jordan works hard to help students at Valparaiso High School (VHS) exceed expectations. Her high schoolers contributed more than 800 volumes to the AmeriCorps Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) Book Drive.

"I challenged the VHS Academy students, whom I work with on a daily basis, to raise more books than the rest of the school or beat the record I set for the school, which was 200. They blew this goal out of the water days before the deadline."

The AmeriCorps members of the Porter County Partnership serving in Lake, Porter, La Porte, Plymouth and Starke Counties collected new books for school aged children in kindergarten through third grade.

Jordan, a recent graduate of Indiana University Bloomington who is pursuing a masters degree in social work at Indiana University Northwest, believes in the spirit of service.

"The students were so excited about the MLK Book Drive," Jordan said. "They loved collecting books to give to younger kids and enjoyed being able to help in their community."

"The kids voluntarily collected so many books and gave up many childhood favorites to make that pile of books grow," Jordan said. "They mirrored MLK's spirit of putting others first and demonstrated the kind of service we try to exemplify in AmeriCorps."

Cory Caldwell, a 15-year-old freshman at VHS, said he donated because he had a lot of books at home that he wanted to contribute to a good cause.

"If it can help younger kids get interested in reading, that's something I want to support," he said.

Becky Graykowski, also a freshman, brought in an armload of books.

"I felt bad that many children don't have books to read at home so I wanted to donate books so they have something to read when they are learning."

Jordan is especially proud of her Academy class, a select group of 45 students who donated half the books collected at VHS.

"To have a goal of 200 and come up with 810 -- it was amazing," Jordan beamed. "Teenagers do want to help and contribute."

Jordan said she is grateful for the assistance of VHS teachers Rhonda Yelton, Matt Thomas, and Debbie Frey who helped her promote the project and drum up enthusiasm.

"I've never seen such committed staff," Jordan said. "I'm surrounded by teachers who give their all to make a difference and by students who make the effort to learn and grow. I believe my contributions as an AmeriCorps volunteer are a small piece of a bigger puzzle making this country a better place."

The AmeriCorps MLK Book Drive amassed more than 3,500 books for elementary students. The service project worked hand in hand with the Reading Buddies program that provides a stuffed animal "reading buddy" to whom children read for 15 minutes each day.