Books reward student behaviors

Vending machines with books help students make decisions that benefit them. In October, McLaughlin Strickland Elementary became the ninth school in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District (CFBISD) to receive such a machine. It is the second machine donated to the district by The Civic League.

Principal Beth Chamberlin said students receive shout outs each morning during announcements for good deeds and will now receive tokens they can put in the machine to receive the book of their choice as a reward.

At the ribbon cutting for the vending machine, four students – Kindergartener James Ortiz Fuentes, third-grade student Jazmin Castro Mendez and fourth-grade students Alexa Canales Contreras and Joseph Alvarez received the first tokens and their first books.

Joseph found $20 on the ground during a school assembly at the book fair and turned it in. Alexa found $5 on the ground at the book fair. In both cases, school staff were able to return the money to the students who dropped it.

Chamberlin said their “great integrity” earned the token.

In addition, Jazmin and James work hard and help other students.

Earning books as rewards is valuable to the students, said Pat Enlow, vice president of programs for the CFBISD Educational Foundation and former principal of McLaughlin Strickland Elementary. “We’re finding that teachers are reporting back to us that they do feel it makes a huge difference in behavior to be able to work toward these books … a lot of our children do not have books at home. It’s so important that they get a book that they can take home and keep.”

The Civic League is a woman-based civic organization that organizes an annual home tour, coming up Nov. 15-17, and a charity golf scramble to raise money to give away in Farmers Branch, Addison and Carrollton.

Founded in 1963, the group gives away around $100,000 each year in the form of 10 to 12 grants.

Vicki Winkle, the organization’s 2024 grants committee chair said they send out an email at the beginning of the year to organizations who have previously received grants and ask them to apply.

“We just look at what they need and try to provide as much money as we can to each one of them," Winkle said.

“Our little group is not very big. We work hard, and we are so happy to give. We are so grateful,” said Tamara Cleghorn.

The vending machine project is a meaningful project, said Mary Lovell, chairman of the CFBISD Educational Foundation. “It’s really heart-warming to see our community come together and support public schools,” she said. “The feedback that we’re getting from educators who have these book-vending machines on their campuses is that it is helping children make good choices.”

Past grant recipients of The Civic League grants include Woven Health Care, Metrocrest Services and the Red Basket Program.