Retired teachers celebrate season with book giveaway

The Bandera County Retired Teachers dropped into each Bandera County public elementary school to make sure every third, fourth and fifth grader selected a free book to take home for Christmas.

The students were thrilled to get to pick a book of their very own.

“Look at all the good books, it’s going to be hard to choose just one,” many students exclaimed at the multitude of books from classics to award winners to popular new fiction displayed on the library tables. There were plenty of non-fiction books as well from which to choose.

The students quickly filed into the schools’ libraries to circle the tables looking for their favorite authors or topics. The members of the BCRTA helped the students select a book on topics of interest. Campus librarians filtered through the crowd helping students choose books while pointing out noted authors.

Dee Anne Mazurek, chairperson of the BCRTA Book Project, said the team collected over 800 books.

“This week we delivered them to four different campuses for their third, fourth, and fifth graders,” she said. “Everyone was very welcoming, and the kids were so excited to have a book to keep. Our goal was to get books into the hands of kids. They have plenty of books at school, but a lot of the kids don’t have books to read at home. This way we can assure they are reading at school and reading at home as well.”

The BCRTA members collect new and gently used books throughout the calendar year to support the Book Project, which culminates in December. Mazurek keeps the books and helps categorize which books belong at each grade level.

While the Book Project has been going on for many years, this is only the second year that the retired teachers have gone directly into the elementary schools and collaborated closely with the school librarians.

The BCRTA would like to thank Lisa Gherman from Alkek Elementary, Stanette Brzezinski from Hill Country Elementary, Letetia Vaughan from Medina Elementary and Tess Loman from Utopia School for their help with the BCRTA Book Project.

The BCRTA would also like to express great thanks to Lakehills Library Director Dianna Landes, and Medina Community Library Director Alison Harbour for their help and expertise in selecting children’s literature at appropriate reading levels.

BCRTA President Lynn Oliver stated, “Dianna Landes helped me with the reading levels for the books I donated. I was a high school teacher and wasn’t quite sure what reading level would be appropriate for upper elementary. Dianna was a great help.”

The Bandera County Retired Teachers Association is open to all members of the community who have worked in public or private schools. They meet monthly during the school year.

If interested in supporting BCRTA’s Book Project, contact Dee Anne Mazurek at deeannemazurek@gmail.com .