Photo courtesy Joe Rizzo Liam Bureau, Ben Peck, Savannah Rizzo, Carlee Rizzo, Sarah Nash drop off a haul of books to Hope School.

Photo courtesy Joe Rizzo Liam Bureau, Ben Peck, Savannah Rizzo, Carlee Rizzo, Sarah Nash drop off a haul of books to Hope School.

Bookworms: Students supply books to their peers

  • By Kelly Sullivan
  • Sunday, August 28, 2016 9:41pm
  • NewsSchools

Three Nikiski High School students have figured out a way to spread their love of reading to those with less access to literature.

Spearheaded by senior Savannah Rizzo, the trio formed T-books nearly three years ago, to fundraise money and purchase reading materials for middle school students, which they then personally drop of at school sites around the central Kenai Peninsula.

“I figured that I could actually help someone with their situation, that is something to do on a mass scale,” Rizzo said. “Books are a form of comfort therapy and its really good for kids to have something like that or something that they care about. I love reading and I want to give others the opportunity to read if they can’t get the opportunity to themselves.”

At the start of this school year, T-Books expanded operations all the way out to Hope School at the edge of the Kenai Peninsula. Previously they had supplied students in Nikiski, Kenai and Soldotna with the big hauls.

The group, which also includes sophomores Maisey Potten and Sarah Nash, first visits a school and finds out what titles their younger peers are looking for. They can’t always buy everything the student’s want, but will try their best to find similar stories. They purchase in bulk from online warehouses, where entire pallets can cost only $600.

Rizzo said they target middle schoolers, because she sees it as a pivotal age that might determine whether or not someone becomes a life-long reader. There are barriers to entry.

There is a difference between owning a book and borrowing one, Rizzo insists. It gives students the chance to have something special of their own, begin a personal collection and find out what they love, she said.

Moreover, teenagers often don’t have reliable transportation to get them to and from the library when they need to pick up and drop off what they have checked out Rizzo said.

Nash said one of the most significant moments in the past two years was when she was handing a book to a little boy who took it from here and immediately smelled the pages of his new novel.

“It is a great feeling,” Nash said. “We can see how happy they are to get the books…The smell of the book is just wonderful.”

The girls have raised nearly $3,000 dollars so far and hope to continue on the tradition. Nash said she would like to continue to move the program into other schools that are willing and wanting, and it possible, to see it carried on once she and her two friends graduate high school.

Rizzo’s father, Joe Rizzo has been their main source of transportation between sites and huge supporter of the endeavor.

“I think that for her, Savannah has kind of always felt for the underdog,” Joe Rizzo said. “And the idea that we tried to teach our kids is that ‘You are pretty blessed, you have what you need’… I think she has taken that as meaning other people don’t have everything they need and if this is some small thing that she can do she wanted to do it.”

Reach Kelly Sullivan at kelly.sullivan@peninsulaclarion.com.

Photo courtesy Joe Rizzo Savannah Rizzo and Sarah Nash carry piles of books into Hope School.

Photo courtesy Joe Rizzo Savannah Rizzo and Sarah Nash carry piles of books into Hope School.

More in News

Kenai Middle School Principal Vaughn Dosko points out elements of a redesign plan for the front of the school on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Work soon to begin on Kenai Middle security upgrades

The security upgrades are among several key KPBSD maintenance projects included in a bond approved by borough voters in October 2022.

The Kenai Fire Department headquarters are photographed on Feb. 13, 2018, in Kenai, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion file)
Kenai adds funds, authorizes contract for study of emergency services facility

The building shared by Kenai’s police and fire departments hasn’t kept up with the needs of both departments, chief says.

Kenai Parks and Recreation Director Tyler Best shows off a new inclusive seesaw at Kenai Municipal Park in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, June 27, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai awards contract to develop Parks and Rec master plan

The document is expected to guide the next 20 years of outdoors and recreation development in the city.

Balancing Act’s homepage for the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s Fiscal Year 2026 Budget. (Screenshot)
KPBSD launches ‘Balancing Act’ software, calls for public to balance $17 million deficit

The district and other education advocates have said that the base student allocation has failed to keep up with inflation.

Natural gas processing equipment is seen at Furie Operating Alaska’s central processing facility in Nikiski, Alaska, on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Harvest Alaska announces proposed redevelopment of Kenai LNG terminal

The project could deliver additional natural gas supplies to the Southcentral market as early as 2026, developers said.

A depth marker is almost entirely subsumed by the waters of the Kenai River in Soldotna, Alaska, on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
After delay, borough adopts updated flood insurance maps

The assembly had previously postponed the legislation amid outcry from the Kenai River Keys Property Owners Association.

Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche points to where the disconnected baler ram has bent piping at the Central Peninsula Landfill in Soldotna, Alaska, on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Borough approves federal request to fund recycling redesign

A large baler that was used for recycling was recently left inoperable by a catastrophic failure in its main ram.

A person is detained in Anchorage in recent days by officials from the FBI and U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (FBI Anchorage Field Office photo)
Trump’s immigration raids arrive in Alaska, while Coast Guard in state help deportations at southern US border

Anchorage arrests touted by FBI, DEA; Coast Guard plane from Kodiak part of “alien expulsion flight operations.”

Jamiann S’eiltin Hasselquist asks participants to kneel as a gesture to “stay grounded in the community” during a protest in front of the Alaska State Capitol on Wednesday focused on President Donald Trump’s actions since the beginning of his second term. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Trump protest rally at Alaska State Capitol targets Nazi-like salutes, challenges to Native rights

More than 120 people show up as part of nationwide protest to actions during onset of Trump’s second term.

Most Read