Students at Frederick Douglass Elementary School in Dallas could barely contain their excitement earlier this month as they entered a room filled with hundreds of books—with stories of adventure and new worlds to explore, knowing they could choose one of their very own to take home and read with their families.
The book giveaway was made possible by a grant from Atmos Energy to the Texas Health Resources Foundation to support the work of North Texas Healthy Communities (NTHC), the nonprofit well-being arm of Texas Health Resources. In the coming year, the collaboration will provide 10,000 free books to almost 6,000 children across five North Texas counties.
At Frederick Douglass, 500 students went home with free books. A similar book giveaway also took place this month at Wimbish Elementary in Arlington. The events were the first of 10 Scholastic Book Fairs designed to strengthen and expand NTHC’s literacy initiatives. The Atmos grant is also helping NTHC grow its learning garden programs at six schools in six different school districts.
Atmos Energy and NTHC share a common passion for addressing literacy efforts here in North Texas. As part of its Fueling Safe and Thriving Communities initiative, Atmos partners with local and national organizations to help third-graders read on level. Their collaboration with NTHC will help strengthen reading skills by providing books and other resources. The Learning Garden initiative supports school gardening efforts that give students hands-on learning opportunities to explore biology, weather, math, and scientific research.
Fueling Literacy
Studies show literacy and education lead to lower incidence of depression and greater likelihood of high school graduation, employment, and preventive care. Texas Health Resources vice president Matt Dufrene says investing in early childhood literacy programs can provide a lifetime of benefits when it comes to improving economic, social and physical well-being.
“Opening a book can open the door to healthy outcomes for students and their families,” Dufrene said. “The partnership between Atmos and NTHC is focused on providing free books to children in under-resourced schools, in the hope that they will make reading a lifetime habit.”
NTHC is also working with Scholastic to donate a percentage of its revenues back to the schools for additional reading supplements and student resources, as well as teacher books and materials.
“Most of our students do not have the money to purchase books at a book fair,” said Sherqueena Jackson, principal of Frederick Douglass Elementary. “Atmos Energy providing funds for all students is a real game-changer. Putting books in the hands of our students to bring home—especially during the summer--will increase their love of books, reading abilities and family time. Having books at home reinforces reading and what they learned during the school year so they will be ready for the next school year.”
Learning Garden Project
While books help children dive into new worlds, research shows that digging in the dirt and watching a garden grow can change their own worlds. Gardening teaches children where food comes from, encourages them to eat more fruits and vegetables and helps them engage in physical activity. School gardens are linked to lower obesity rates, happier moods, and healthy habits that extend into adulthood.
Funding from Atmos Energy will provide the materials, equipment and resources needed for the development or redevelopment of Learning Gardens at six under-resourced schools within the North Texas area. Selected schools will be in neighborhoods with higher rates of obesity and chronic disease, and limited access to fresh fruits and vegetables from grocery stores and farmers markets.
Funds will be utilized to purchase materials, equipment and resources to renew or build new gardens. The Learning Garden program will also support family healthy eating with nutritional learning touch-points such as recipe cards, harvesting events, and taste-tests.
The project also gives Atmos Energy employee volunteers a chance to get involved at the ground level, building or restoring school gardens as part of the company’s commitment to volunteerism in the communities it serves.
Expanding into 2023-24 School Year
The literacy efforts that began at Fredrick Douglass and Wimbish elementary schools are set to expand to eight additional schools. Students throughout Tarrant, Dallas, Denton and Collin counties will be treated to book fairs during the 2023-2024 school year.
“These children are our future. Our efforts to ensure young children receive the tools they need to read on-level fuels bright minds and healthy futures for our kids,” said Kimberly Smith, manager of Public Affairs for Atmos Energy.
Additional school gardens are also in the works, with NTHC supporting efforts to keep those gardens growing.
Both the Literacy and Learning Garden projects give students, teachers, parents and volunteers the opportunity to engage, learn, and communicate across different generational and cultural perspectives—a key ingredient to a healthy community.