 |
| Grade 3 boys at the Scholastic Book Fair on Thursday afternoon during one of their regularly scheduled Library classes. Since this was the second time the grade 3’s visited the Book Fair (the first visit was simply for browsing), the students were able to make a purchase. |
|
 |
Every November, usually during the week of parent-teacher interviews, IHMS holds its annual Scholastic Book Fair. This is an ideal time to hold the Book Fair since most parents are already in the school at some point during the week to visit with their child’s teacher. The theme for this year’s book fair was “Enchanted Forest – Let Your Imagination Grow”. |
 |
 |
| A few more grade 3 boys at the Scholastic Book Fair during their Library class |
| Most students look forward to the Scholastic Book Fair. Of course, books aren’t difficult to find because there are plenty of stores in Winnipeg and sites on the internet (such as amazon.ca and chapters.indigo.ca) where students can purchase an even greater selection of books and accessories. But most K-8 students don’t order books off the internet, and the Scholastic Book Fair makes the process easy and convenient because they bring the books to us – a brilliant marketing strategy. |
 |
 |
 |
| Grade 3 girls shopping at the book fair |
| Most parents give their kids some money to spend at the Scholastic Book Fair. The people at Scholastic know this, and they also know that kids are impulsive buyers, so they make sure to include a lot of bright, colourful items near the checkout. |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
The Scholastic Book Fsir had a nice assortment of eye catching items for sale near the checkout. These included colourful pens, pencils, erasers, bookmarks, and other fun, low cost items that are often impulse purchases. Mrs. Radawetz uses an interesting term to refer to these colourful items – “eye candy”.
|
|
|
|
| In addition to making it convenient for students to acquire cool new books, the book fair is also a school fundraiser. IHMS makes a small profit with the sale of each new book, and after hundreds of transactions those tiny profits add up. The money is then used to purchase new Scholastic books for both the library, and for each of the K-8 classrooms. For most years, classroom teachers are allotted approximately $80-$100 to purchase new books for their classroom. |
 |
| Under the direction of the school’s librarian Mrs, Radawetz, IHMS has raised approximately $2500 a year for each of the last few years. Since all of this money is used to purchase new books for the students, everybody benefits! |
 |
| Library book cash |
|
 |
| Oh dear! It looks like Mrs, Radawetz has “photobombed” a perfectly good picture! |
|
|
The book fair was set up in the front foyer of the school on Monday, November 26 and ran until Thursday, November 29. The hours for the Book Fair were the same for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday – from 1:00 – 4:30 p.m. Since parent/teacher interviews were scheduled into the evening on Thursday, the book fair remained open until 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, November 29th. |
 |
 |
| Students purchasing books during their Library class |
| Students were excited to browse through the book fair. A timetable was set up to give each grade the opportunity to visit the book fair during school hours. Students needed their classroom teacher with them if they wanted to purchase anything during these designated times. When the book fair reopened for business after 3:15 p.m., students needed a parent with them to purchase anything. |
|
 |
 |
| After dismissal at the end of the school day, a lot of students returned to the book fair to make a purchase. They were free to do so as long as they were accompanied by a parent. |
|
A few days before the book fair, every student was given a Preview flyer showing a few of the books that would be available for sale. In addition to these “sneak peeks”, the flyer also contained a ballot that could be filled out and entered for a prize draw of $50 worth of free books – $25 for the winning student and $25 for that student’s class. There were also smaller draws in every grade for a coupon worth $6 off the price of any book or accessory.
 |
| The Scholastic Book Fair’s grand prize draw on Wednesday November 28 made the winner, grade 1 student Sonya C. (pictured above), a “hero” among her classmates. Sonya won $50 worth of free books – $25 for herself and $25 for the rest of the class. |
|
In order to give everyone an opportunity to view the displays, a schedule was set up for each grade to do some browsing. Each class’s first visit was for viewing only, while purchases were accepted during the class’s second visit. Of course students were free to browse as they walked through the book fair on the way to the gym at lunch time, and students were free to make purchases after 3:00 if their parents accompanied them.
  |
|
The photo on the left shows grade 4 artists Trista C. & Julie K., creators of the “Enchanted Forest” book fair decoration. The photo on the right shows grade 5 artist Colton R., creator of the book fair’s prize draw “can” art.
|
|
Since the book fair was organized with the needs of K-8 students in mind, there were a wide range of reading levels available, ranging from pre-school to teenager. There were also a lot of accessories for sale, such as colourful pens and pencils, erasers, and markers. In addition, there was a small selection of gift ideas for the students to purchase.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Some of the different genres available at the Scholastic Book Fair. There was some speculation that fewer items were on display this year compared to previous years. Mrs. Radawetz, who knows more about the book fair than anyone, has confirmed this observation. |
|
The book fair was organized by the school’s dedicated and hard working librarian, Mrs. Radawetz. In addition, a number of parent volunteers helped out behind the counter.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| The Scholastic Book Fair was organized and run by the school’s librarian, Mrs. Radawetz (top two photos). A few parent volunteers also assisted Mrs. Radewetz during the book fair’s busier times. One of these parent volunteers, Mr. Pritchard, got into the spirit of the theme of the book fair by dressing up as Robin Hood! Last year, when the theme of the book fair was “Saddle Up & Read…Adventure Awaits”, Mr. Pritchard, dressed up in traditional western attire! |
|
The Scholastic Book Fair is a major school event that requires a lot of planning and preparation. Thank you to Mrs. Radawetz, the parent volunteers, and everyone else who played a part in making the Scholastic Book Fair such a great success.
 |
| The many hours of work that Mrs. Radawetz spent organizing and implementing the 2018 Scholastic Book Fair has paid off tremendously – the final tally for this year is a profit of $2600. |
|
