Florence 1 purchases more than $30K in classic texts Florence 1 Schools has purchased more than 3,000 new books in a move to replenish English Language Arts classrooms at and Rush Academy, South Florence, West Florence and Wilson High Schools. The books include titles such as The Scarlet Letter, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and the Bronx Masquerade. The purchase replaces books that are too worn to be used and also provides more copies of the books so that the schools have enough for each student. Kimberly KinleyHoward, Florence 1 English Language Arts Coordinator, said that the book purchase ensures that the ELA curriculum is accessible to all students. “We have these texts as part of the core curriculum so we need to always refurbish the classroom library,” Kinley-Howard said. “If the kids are actively reading, they are annotating in the book and we want them to do that. If we had pristine books it would mean that no one is using them.” With the implementation of the Read to Succeed Act, South Carolina schools have requirements for English Language Arts. For elementary level education, money is allotted for purchasing books for the classroom library; that same money is not available for high schools. “Our teachers and students need these books,” said Florence 1 School Superintendent Dr. Richard O’Malley. “This purchase is about refocusing and reprioritizing the district budget to get as many dollars and resources into our classrooms as possible.” Teachers across the district gave feedback on what books they needed for their classroom. Courses supported in the purchase include English 1 up to AP English. South Florence English teacher Dr. Roslynn Elom said that even with the implementation of technology, nothing can replace hardcopy texts. “When you have technology you can take notes but it just isn’t the same,” Elom said. “Let’s be real, you get more from writing and reading it than you do just from looking at it on a screen. When you’re looking at the screen, your mind wanders forty different ways; you’re not paying attention like you should.” Elom said that she was specifically excited to hand out the new copies of The Scarlet Letter. “This version of the Scarlet Letter is a bigger book, which is great because I have some kids with vision issues,” Elom said. “I am always mindful of a child who doesn’t see very well; everybody can’t afford glasses. When you have larger print with clean pages and things are a little more spread out, in my opinion, you have kids who are more apt to read it. With the larger page, it also looks like a shorter text; it isn’t but it looks like it is.” West Florence juniors Olivia Seward and Charleigh Sprawls said that they were excited for students to have new books to use and for teachers to have the things they need to teach their classes. “I’m happy for the English teachers and the students coming up,” Olivia said. “We didn’t get a lot of these books but other people will and they won’t be falling apart. My brother is in eighth grade now so he will be able to use these books.”
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