COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) — For students at Carmel Community School in southeast Colorado Springs, a free book can mean more than a good story, it can mean discovering a new part of themselves.
The school has been part of the Scripps Howard Fund's "If You Give a Child a Book" campaign for over five years. As the campaign approaches its two millionth book, students say the impact goes far beyond the pages.
Each time students walk into the book fair, they get to pick five free books.
For eighth grader Cielo Benitez, those books changed everything. She started learning English at age five.
"When I first started school, I couldn't even speak English," said Benitez. “It was really hard, really difficult. Thanks to all those books, I've been able to learn how to speak English, and now I can translate properly for other people.”
By fourth grade, she was translating for other students. Today, she does it for her family, too.
"It's like, very special to have that kind of like special ability," said Benitez.
For third grader Eric Garcia, the books are about pushing himself further.
"I would rather pick like, eighth grade level.” said Garcia. "It feels special to me since like it can help me grow my mind and focus my brain on... learning stuff," said Garcia.
His brother, Alex Garcia, said he wants to see more Spanish books available.
"I try to pick out different books where I can because I'm trying to learn how to speak Spanish," he said.
For eighth grader Jaime Boueri, the book fair provides access to something that isn't always easy to find at home.
"So when I get to come here and pick free books, I can pick books that are challenging and new for me to read, so I can keep going up on my grade level reading," said Boueri.
Layla Totter, who moved to Colorado from Texas last year, picked out her free books for the first time.
"I'm just so happy that like, you guys are here, and we're able to have things like this because, you know, not many people around the world get this kind of literature opportunities," said Totter.
Kamarra Bowens Stant, the school's librarian, has been at Carmel for four years. She said the program has had a measurable effect on students' reading levels.
"They're actually reading more advanced books, not even in their grade level because of the fact that they've been able to actually have books and build their libraries at home," said Bowens Stant.
For student Christian Sierer, the books helped with something beyond reading.
"I actually had a really bad speech impediment before I started reading books that are higher than my grade. Reading aloud has helped me with my s's, my vocabulary, speaking to people and just like, my dialogue in general," said Sierer.
Sierer said there was a time when she loved to talk, but people couldn't always understand her.
"I feel proud of myself, and I feel glad, I love to be understood. I love to understand people," said Sierer.
The books students pick don't stay at school. They go home, get shared, and sometimes become the reason a child believes she can take on the next challenge.
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