Life skills teacher Karen Cummings’ classroom is lively and social. The students take turns reading aloud “What Is The Super Bowl?” and stop periodically to joke, comment and write down chapter summaries.

With a $509 Lewisville ISD Education Foundation (LEF) grant she received in October for her “Let’s Read” project, Cummings ordered about 40 of the WhoHQ books for her special education class. 

“I [got these books] for students who struggle with reading,” Cummings said. “They’re interesting topics and they’re high-interest books, lower-reading level.”

In applying for this grant, Cummings’ hope was to help students who struggle with reading comprehension achieve their Individual Education Program goals, which are goals she sets with students. The class writes summaries and draws pictures for every chapter. So far, they’ve read “What Is The First Thanksgiving?” and “Who Was Anne Frank?”

“The books are really helpful because I learn a lot of stories I don’t know. I really like them,” junior Alondra Martinez said. “They’re easy to read.”

The district also paid for subscriptions for Cummings’ class to two magazines, “Scholastic Action” and “Junior Scholastic,” magazines Cummings had been paying for with her own money.

“It’s a great opportunity for the kids to have something to read that’s interesting,” Cummings said.