When summertime rolls around, many teachers and parents worry about the summer slide—a loss of academic proficiency when students in America lose, on average, 20% of their school-year gains in reading and 27% of their school-year gains in math. This loss of proficiency during the summer is worse for children in low-socioeconomic areas who have limited access to educational resources at home and in their communities.
Of course, that’s what happens in a “normal” year. In 2020, students around the world have had their education disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic months before the start of summer break. Many children in poorer communities, both in the United States and abroad, lack the internet access and materials necessary for online or at-home schooling. As summer begins and public services like libraries remain closed due to pandemic concerns, millions of children are at risk of falling further and further behind their wealthier peers.
Bess the Book Bus (Facebook)
In normal years, Bess the Book Bus is a Tampa-based nonprofit bookmobile driven by founder Jennifer Frances who travels to rural and underserved communities in the United States to deliver books to kids. In 2019, Bess the Book Bus visited 83 towns in 22 states and provided 57,041 books to 48,346 children and families. Over the past 17 years, Bess has visited 48 states (I’m guessing the contiguous ones) and donated more than 750,000 books.
One of Bess’s frequent stops is the Navajo Nation which is not only one of the most poverty-stricken communities in America, but also the hardest hit by COVID-19. Because of the pandemic, traveling with Bess across the U.S. isn’t an option this year, so Jennifer Frances found another way to help the community. According to the Washington Post, Frances connected with Charlene Poyer, a Utah third-grade schoolteacher who was working to deliver food and learning packets to families isolated by the pandemic. In April, Frances mailed 1,500 books for kids in grades K-6 at Montezuma Creek Elementary for Poyer and other teachers to distribute to all of the school’s students, 40% of whom lack internet access.
In May, Bess was able to resume some of her travels in the Tampa area in a joint effort with Feeding Tampa Bay, a nonprofit that provides food to the “hundreds of thousands of food insecure families in the 10-county area of West Central Florida.” Feeding Tampa Bay’s Cereal for Summer initiative will hand out cereal to kids in need this summer, and Bess the Bus will be along for the ride, offering a sanitized “grab and go” opportunity for kids to take home 2-3 books. Read more about how Jennifer Frances is reinventing her efforts to get books to kids in need in 2020.
Thanks, Jennifer and Bess! For being a Super Awesome Person™ and a Super Awesome Bus™.
- Follow Bess the Book Bus on Facebook and Twitter.
- Contribute to Bess’s Mission here, and find out more about Bess at bessthebookbus.org.
- Kids in Navajo Nation have limited Internet access. A woman sent them 1,500 books. (Cathy Free, Washington Post)
- Lunch, Literacy and a Local Hero (Grace Anne Alfiero, Patch)