A news release from the Cobb County School District highlighted the Fair Oaks Book Mobile, which visits Fair Oaks Elementary School every Wednesday during the summer.

The program was started by Fair Oaks academic coach Kelli Wood, to help students avoid the academic slide that often accompanies the summer months.

According to the news release, “The Fair Oaks staff know that students who read for at least 20 minutes every day will avoid the ‘summer academic slide’ and maintain or even make academic gains.”

“They worked so hard over the school year, and we wanted them to be able to keep practicing over the summer,” Wood said. “It improves their reading. It improves them as a person and contributes to their success. Reading is central to everything.”

According to the news release, “The students can keep the books or return them after they finish reading. All books returned are wiped clean. During the second week alone, the school gave out 80 books to students at four stops. The next week, the students also picked up lunch and enjoyed popsicles as their school counselor Valerie Wagley sat down to read ‘Can I Be Your Dog?'”

A guest reader treats the children to storytime each week.

Fair Oaks Principal Dean Yoder said that the book mobile shows the students that their school is there for them, even during the summer. It also helps the students maintain relationships with their teachers. 

 “We want to contribute to their love of reading and their passion for reading that will carry on for the rest of their lives,” Principal Yoder said. “Reading is going to take them anywhere they want to go in the world.”