Clarksville, TN – In early December, the Downtown Kiwanis Club generously donated the book, “The One and Only Ivan,” to all third-grade students within the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System (CMCSS).
“The Downtown Kiwanis Club is a service organization that has been dedicated to reaching and impacting the lives of children in the Clarksville community for nearly 100 years,” stated Brandon Bridges, President of the Downtown Kiwanis Club.
“Youth Literacy is a major focus now and has been for over 25 years. Our partnership with the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System has allowed us to give out over 100,000 books to third graders over that time. Teachers then incorporate those books into the school curriculum. While we were not able to host our traditional in-person event, the Reading Rodeo, this year, we still felt it was an important part of our mission to donate these books,” Bridges stated.
In partnership with the Clarksville-Montgomery County Education Foundation, the Downtown Kiwanis Club has sponsored the Reading Rodeo for the past five years. This year, books were safely delivered to all elementary schools for librarians to pass out to the students.
The number one New York Times bestselling and Newbery Award-winning novel, “The One and Only Ivan,” is by renowned author Katherine Applegate. The book celebrates the importance of unexpected friendships and has been made into a major motion picture by Disney+. Applegate also released a follow-up book, “The One and Only Bob.”
“The Foundation’s number one goal is to ensure children have the resources they need to be successful,” said Robin Burton, Executive Director of the CMC Education Foundation. “By partnering with the Downtown Kiwanis, we can promote reading at an early age, and hopefully foster a life-long love of literature. We are very thankful for the Downtown Kiwanis’ continued support of education in Montgomery County.”
“Studies show that getting children to read at an early stage is critical to long-term academic success. Our reading program reaches every third grader in our community. This wouldn’t be possible without the help of the Downtown Kiwanis Club members, grants, donors, and the CMC Education Foundation. Knowing how excited the students are to get their book tells us this is a worthwhile effort. The Downtown Kiwanis Club hopes to continue this for many years to come,” said Bridges.
To learn more about Clarksville-Montgomery County Education Foundation programs, please visit www.cmceducationfoundation.co
