Two Highlands Elementary school principals have taken it upon themselves to deliver summer reading materials to kids, from their own book mobile.

Principal Janet Fawcett and Alfred Deblasio, assistant principal, are volunteering their time this summer to keep kids in the area reading through the summer.

“We know that a lot of kids, especially kids that come from low-income families, they don’t have books in their house,” said Fawcett. “We want children to have books at their home because we have lots of books at school and we’re always adding to our book collection. Our teachers are adding to their book collections, but our kids go home and they don’t always have books.”

The effort was doubly important to the principals because for the past two summers, Highlands Elementary has been No. 1 in the state’s Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge in the “Read for the World Record.”

With funds from Scholastic, Fawcett went shopping at the company’s warehouse in Auburn and got discounts on books and freebies. Deblasio picked up books from a give-away at retailer Half Price Books. The two loaded up Deblasio’s minivan, now their bookmobile, and headed to the Highlands Community Recreation Center and United Methodist Church for deliveries. They collected close to 2,000 books.

Last Thursday afternoon, the principals rolled up to the recreation center. As they answered questions in an interview with the Renton Reporter, kids came streaming out of the center, interrupting the interview to ask when they could select books. Three boxes full of reading materials had yet to be unpacked from the van, as kids excitedly gathered on the sidewalk.

Once Fawcett and Deblasio were freed to do their work, the kids swarmed around the piles of books and examined them.

“It’s really fun because the kids come out and they’re literally walking out with armfuls of books that they can’t hardly hold on to,” Fawcett said. “And it’s free; they don’t have to bring them back.”

Last Thursday, Aug. 1, was the bookmobile’s third visit and the principals plan to make one more trip before the summer’s over.

“The first day was really cool,” said Deblasio. “When we pulled away from here, we looked out and we saw kids by the swing sets, over there, sitting down in the grass reading books, as we were pulling away.”

These visits are important because they remind kids that it’s important to read through the summer or else there is a big drop in their studies, if they’re not reading, even a little, he said.

“So, it’s a huge part to connect with us, as their school leaders in their community and also just to keep them motivated to read,” Deblasio said.