HAMBURG, N.Y. — The brand-new school store at Frontier Middle has been used partly as a storage space for the last few weeks. The closet is full of boxes and boxes of brand-new books for elementary and middle school readers.
"Last year, our teacher's union applied for a grant from the American Federation of Teachers, and it was a part of their 'Reading Opens the World' initiative," said Eighth Grade ELA Teacher and President of the Frontier Central Teacher's Association, Amber Chandler.
"We received the grant and 5,000 books, and so we needed a way to distribute the books," Chandler said.
That's how Frontier's Fall Into Reading Festival was born. Chandler says its second year will be even more significant.
"We brought in the Buffalo Zoo, Albright Knox, there's going to be police the Hamburg Fire, Swat teams, so we have a bunch of community partners involved as well this year," Chandler said.
The idea is that you bring your family, pick out a book, and stay for a while.
"Hearing the parents and families talk about, 'well you love dinosaurs,' or you know those kinds of conversations are really important for literacy, so that, to me, made it a win-win for everybody," Chandler said.
Frontier Middle School Principal, Dr. Chris Thuman, says the festival is open to everyone, and in a short amount of time, it's become a big point of Falcon Pride.
"It's not just for the students, it's not just for families of kids who go here," He said. "It's for the grandparents who live here, who have their kids staying with them on the weekends. They have resources for them. It's for everyone." Thurman said.
The Fall Into Reading Festival is happening here at Frontier Middle on Saturday from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.