Congratulations to the Winners of our Fall 2009 National Middle
School Contest!

Our first-place winner and recipient of a visit from best-selling author Suzanne Collins plus a $2,000 shopping spree for books is:

Sammy McClure Middle School
Dallas, Georgia
Student Crew Count: 58
Book Fair Theme: The Phantom of the Book Fair

A classic Broadway show came to life in the school’s Phantom of the Book Fair (Unmask the Reader in You). The 58-member Crew transformed the media center into the Paris Opera House by decorating with an organ, candelabras, masks, roses, over-sized Playbills, and a life-like reconstruction of the chandelier from the show. The media center’s circulation desk was also turned into the phantom’s boat. Daily announcements, posters, a Web site, closed-circuit slides, banners, and a school-wide calling post to parents were just some of the ways that the Crew advertised the Fair to the school community. To increase attendance at the Family Night, students were given one raffle ticket if they brought a parent and five raffle tickets if they brought a grandparent. The Crew even provided babysitting with the purchase of a Klutz Build-a-Book® kit, and then helped younger siblings create the books.

To generate student traffic at the Book Fair, there were trivia contests, mask day, and much more! Students who spent $25 or more, received an entry ticket into the Phantom’s Underworld, which challenged students’ senses with horrifying smells, sights, and sounds while a professional storyteller led groups through frightening passages.

Teachers got involved by decorating masks, as well as attending a Masquerade Madness preview event where they enjoyed phantom cake, sparkling grape juice, and other tasty French treats. They were also entertained by a professional actor and former drama student performing the famous song from the Broadway show, “Music of the Night.”

Once the Fair’s sales goal was met, the school’s principal dressed up as the phantom. The school also raised $800 in One for Books® donations through a silent auction they held.

All of these activities and events made Sammy McClure’s Middle School’s Book Fair come alive with creativity!

Second-place winners of a $1,000 shopping spree for books are:

Graves County Middle School
Mayfield, Kentucky
Student Crew Count: 25
Book Fair Theme: To Book Fair and Beyond …

During the fall 2009 Book Fair, Graves County Middle School’s 25-member Crew transformed the Fair into a spaceship playground. To increase student traffic at the Book Fair, a green alien visited students in the cafeteria and reminded them to visit the Fair. The Crew also hosted a Teacher Sneak Peek where snacks and green alien punch were provided. During the Fair, the Crew developed a competition based on The Hunger Games. Homerooms were turned into districts, and “tributes” were chosen from a drawing. The winning tribute won prizes, and the game resulted in the Fair selling more than 125 copies of The Hunger Games! Other fun activities included a One for Books coin challenge, which raised $760, and a principal challenge (once the Fair’s goal was met, the principal got slimed). To generate traffic from families, a Family Night included an Internet safety presentation for parents and younger siblings enjoyed a visit from costume characters. This Book Fair was out of this world!

Clark Middle School
Frisco, Texas
Student Crew Count: 21
Book Fair Theme: Rock and Read Around the World

The 21-member Book Fair Crew, also called “roadies,” promoted the fall Book Fair so much that you could actually hear the buzz throughout Clark Middle School. From booktalks by the librarian to promoting the Fair at the pep rally, the Crew got the word out that the Book Fair was not to be missed! The Fair was decorated with inflatable instruments, CDs, album covers, and more! To generate student excitement about the Fair, daily contests were held. A locker lottery took place, raffle tickets were handed out, and students had the opportunity to guess the number of pages in wrapped books. To increase teacher involvement, a preview was held where teachers were enticed with baked goods and a raffle while they filled out wish lists. One of the most popular activities was One for Books. Each teacher had a loose change container and the teachers who collected the most change agreed to perform a rock concert during lunch. The principal also let students listen to rock music during lunch for a week once the sales goal was met. This Book Fair rocked so much that the revenue increased by 40%!

Gulf Middle School
Cape Coral, Florida
Student Crew Count: 40
Book Fair Theme: The Cat Bookler and the Mystery of the Missing Mysteries

The Cat Bookler and the Mystery of the Missing Mysteries is the story of a cat, his bookstore, and his passion for books. For every book a student bought at the cat’s shop, a.k.a. the Book Fair, they received a jewel for their teacher. At the end of the week, the teacher with the most jewels received a prize! This interactive game developed by the 40-member Crew got kids, teachers, and parents excited about the Book Fair! Besides the jewel incentive, the Crew used several Web-based tools to create book blogs, cat avatars, promotional videos, slideshows, and more to increase Book Fair traffic. At the Book Fair, students could participate in daily contests, and during the Family Night, the three kids who had the highest score on the Bejeweled game on their cell phones, won a prize. The Crew, who wore matching T-shirts and cat ears, decided to use the One for Books funds they raised to launch a butterfly book garden project in memory of an assistant principal who passed away. This Book Fair had the entire school community bedazzled by books!

Hopewell Middle School
Alpharetta, Georgia
Student Crew Count: 15
Book Fair Theme: Hopewell Doesn’t Play Games With Hunger

Hopewell’s volunteers decided to base their fall Book Fair off of the popular Hunger Games series. Keeping with the spirit of the novel, a team, or district, competition was created. The goal was for students to collect as many tickets for their district as possible. This greatly increased Book Fair excitement because tickets were given for a Book Fair poster contest, writing book reviews, giving booktalks on the morning announcements, coming to the Fair’s Family Night (and bringing a parent), purchasing books, and more. To entice students to visit the Fair, a school-wide goal of selling 1,100 books was set. Not only was the goal reached, it was broken! The students were awarded with a pajama pants day! As part of a community outreach effort, the school also conducted its largest canned good drive ever. More than 4,500 cans of food were collected for a local food pantry. Even after the Book Fair ended, students at Hopewell were still buzzing about The Hunger Games, which was also the best-selling book at the Fair!
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