Sandals Foundation & Scholastic Book Fairs Team Up to Help Students Thrive Academically

In a continuing effort to improve student literacy throughout the Caribbean, the Sandals Foundation recently announced that it will again team with Scholastic Book Fairs, a division of Scholastic, the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books, to donate 25,000 children’s books to students across the islands of the Caribbean through the Sandals Foundation’s Reading Road Trip, an educational outreach program operated by Island Routes Caribbean Adventures.

The Reading Road Trip, gives both Sandals Resorts and Beaches Resorts guests as well as those visiting the islands, the opportunity to visit a locally supported school to offer literacy, comprehension and vocabulary support and to provide books to students during the school year. The program, operated by Island Routes Caribbean Adventures, is a weekly outreach program that operates every Thursday for a nominal fee and supports educational initiatives by the Sandals Foundation.

Last year, Scholastic Book Fairs and the Sandals Foundation donated 25,000 books to local schools in Jamaica, Antigua, St. Lucia, Nassau, Bahamas, Exuma, Bahamas, Turks & Caicos, Grenada and Barbados, and more than 16 schools and 1,775 visitors across the Caribbean participated in the Reading Road Trip program, which enriched more than 2,500 students.

“We were very excited to receive the book donations from Scholastic through the Sandals Foundation,” said Leah Robinson, Principal of New Winthorpes Primary School. “Although our school is small, we want to instil a love of reading in our students, and the first step is to have a comfortable place where they have access to a variety of great reads. I want to thank the Sandals Foundation for thinking about our students at New Winthorpes.”

“Scholastic is delighted to work with the Sandals Foundation to provide access to new, quality books to thousands of students in the Caribbean,” said Larry Wissinger, Director of Business Development, Scholastic Book Fairs. “We hope this donation will encourage a lifelong passion for reading and learning in all students, because we know that books open a world of possibilities for children everywhere.”

For more information on the Sandals Foundation and its literacy efforts in the Caribbean, please visit www.sandalsfoundation.org.

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