The Middle Country Central School District (MCCSD) recently accepted a massive book donation—16,000 books—from Ocean State Job Lot’s Charitable Foundation, a discount retailer which recently opened its 124th store in Centereach, NY. MCCSD Superintendent of Schools Dr. Roberta Gerold, District Board of Education members and Jericho Elementary School students were on hand to accept the generous donation, ultimately aiding in the District’s literacy and reading programs.
“Reading is a vital aspect of any young child’s development, providing an opportunity to learn new vocabulary, recognize sentence structure and keep students’ brains active and engaged,” said Superintendent Dr. Gerold. “Middle Country is constantly providing students with opportunities to develop these imperative literary skills and thanks to our friends at Ocean State Job Lot’s Charitable Foundation we now have thousands of new options to offer our students.”
The donation event was held at Jericho Elementary School, with the books soon to be distributed District-wide throughout libraries and classrooms. Both District representatives and the Executive Director of the Ocean State Job Lot Charitable Foundation were on hand to discuss the importance of reading and developing strong literary skills in elementary school students. Robert Martinez, a representative from Suffolk County Legislator Tom Muratore’s office and Town of Brookhaven Councilman Kevin LaValle were also in attendance for the book donation event.
“With summer around the corner, this donation serves as a fitting reminder about the importance of reading during the summer months,” stated Superintendent Dr. Gerold. “The District’s dedicated teachers will be eager to see the progress our students have made and to have a front row seat to the incredible strides students continue to make next school year as they advance in reading-levels and read their way through our new selection of books.”
