Kay Rice and her second-grade students at Bellevue’s Somerset Elementary School have won the “Care Where You Are” Sweepstakes, a national event sponsored by Scholastic Book Clubs. They will donate their prize – 500 books from Scholastic – to Phantom Lake Elementary School, also in Bellevue.

The donated books will be matched and distributed by Principal, Dr. Tracy Maury; Bonnie Lyons, Reading Specialist; and Judy Hunsberger, LAP and Human Services Specialist to students who need support in reading. The books distributed to each student will be at the individual student’s reading comprehension level.

Students receiving the books will add them to their private collection of books at their home to start their own library. The goal is to promote strong ownership, pride and sharing books among their own community. Educators say having books in the home is a high motivator to developing the love of reading with students.

The prizewinners were participants in Scholastic Book Clubs’ ClassroomsCare program – a philanthropic literacy initiative that encourages reading by asking classrooms across the country to read 100 books, and in turn, Scholastic Book Clubs will donate up to one million books to kids in need.

Out of more than 12,000 classes that entered the sweepstakes, Rice’s class was one of only 200 across the nation to win the prize, including the opportunity to help determine where the donated books would do the most good in their own community.

“My students and I were so excited when we found out we’d won the sweepstakes!” said Rice. “We love ClassroomsCare, and it’s even-better that we were able to donate the books we won to local children in need. My students have been reading extensively this year, and now they’re learning how special it is to give, especially to those less fortunate.”