A new vending machine at Pine Grove Area Elementary School has charmed students with its colorful, if unconventional, design.
The machine, adorned with the school colors and logo, is not an ordinary vendor of snacks or beverages; instead, it contains a selection of books geared toward elementary-age children.
Located a short distance from the library, the machine is a book-lover’s dream.
Familiar titles such as “Goosebumps” and “Magic Tree House” are displayed alongside newer books such as “Dragon Girls” and “Snowman: The True Story of a Champion.”
Stephanie Ziegmont, director of curriculum in the district, said the school introduced the vending machine to promote literacy and to provide books to anyone who wants them.
“This is a great way to get them excited about reading and get them interested,” Ziegmont said.
Students can purchase the books with special gold coins, which they can earn as rewards in class.
Sandra Burns, principal, said the incentives for earning coins have yet to be determined.
The school has rounded up a list of options — including for behavior, academics and attendance-based incentives — which will be brought up for a vote by students and staff members.
“We’re taking it to a schoolwide vote,” Burns said.
Before it was unveiled in mid-November, the vending machine was covered over with cardboard, leaving students wondering what it could be.
Like many others, third grader Alex Keefer guessed it would be a big version of the cardinal, the school mascot.
But what showed up underneath the packaging, he said, has turned out to be no less exciting.
Alex used a gold coin Tuesday to snag a copy of the graphic novel “Arcade World: Dino Trouble.” His classmate Alyza Heberling acquired a book from the “Cutiecorns” series.
Alex believes coins should be awarded for maintaining quiet and following rules in the classroom. Alyza said they should be given for not interrupting others who are talking in class.
“We have lots of ideas, so now we just have to narrow it down to one,” Ziegmont said.
The custom-designed machine, from Inchy the Bookworm, contains a wide variety of books catering to reading levels from kindergarten to fourth grade.
“The main idea was to motivate students with reading and the idea that we’re all going to be working toward the same goal, whether that’s kindness, behavior, academic,” Burns said. “Whatever that goal will be, we will be doing it as a building, which creates even more of a community within our school.”
Source: Berkshire mont
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