April 28, 2022 -- Students at Harwich Elementary School and Chatham Elementary School will have lots of new, diverse books in their third-grade classrooms, thanks to the work of the MLK Action Team. The group, which is part of the Nauset Interfaith Council, launched a Community Book Drive last summer to increase the number of diverse books in local schools. The Book Drive was done in partnership with a number of local bookstores, including Brewster Bookstore, Footprints Cafe in Bourne, Sea Howl in Orleans, Where the Sidewalk Ends in Chatham, and Below the Brine in Harwich Port. The drive collected 490 new books and over $1,600 to purchase additional titles, all featuring characters or themes representing a range of cultures, perspectives, and backgrounds. For the first interation of the program, the MLK Action Team donated to third grade classrooms in all Monomoy and Nauset elementary schools. Each 3rd grade teacher at HES and CES received a set of 11 books and then got to choose an additional 26 books for their classrooms. MLK Education Task Force Co-Chairs Angie Chilaka and Karen Boujoukos presented the books to teachers on April 27. To learn more about the MLK Action Team, visit https://nausetinterfaith.org/mlk-action.
