This show really is the gift that keeps on giving!
In connection to Abbott Elementary, the ABC network has teamed up with Scholastic to provide free book fairs to underfunded schools, Variety reports.
The news comes on the heels of the show’s creator and star Quinta Brunson helping surprise a Philadelphia teacher on Good Morning America and sharing that part of the marketing budget for the hit sitcom was reallocated to buy school supplies for teachers. Now, the show is continuing to pay it forward by hosting free book drives at seven Title 1 schools, which are scheduled to happen between March 14 and 18. Brunson tweeted out that the first stop is her old elementary school.
And our first school is the elementary school I went to, Harrity ❤️ let’s get it @Scholastic https://t.co/5u4EXWATu0
— quinta brunson (@quintabrunson) March 9, 2022
In addition to Philadelphia’s Harrity Elementary (the school that the show is based on), the book fair will make its way to Diehl Elementary in Erie, Pennsylvania, Bond Elementary in Chicago, Dayton’s Bluff Elementary in Minneapolis, Freeman Elementary in Flint, Michigan, and Cortada Elementary and Florence Griffith Joyner Elementary in Los Angeles. Students will be given two books each and every teacher will receive 10.
“Our mission at Scholastic has always been to support teachers and provide them with the resources and materials needed to build warm, positive classroom experiences for their students,” Variety reports Billy DiMichele, senior vice president of creative development at Scholastic, saying. “That’s why we are so thrilled to team up with ABC and Abbott Elementary — a show dedicated to uplifting educators and reflecting their experiences — to put books into the classrooms that need them most and get kids excited about reading and learning.”
ABC is also set to relaunch its Traveling Teacher’s Lounge initiative, a program that gives schools breakfast, Scholastic books, classroom supplies and Abbott Elementary merchandise. Since the lounge’s first round in January, the initiative has gifted over 1,000 books, 10,000 notebooks, 15,000 arts and craft supplies and 100,000 writing utensils to schools in Philadelphia, New York, New Jersey and Maryland. The lounge has now added six more stops.
Erin Weir, the executive vice president of marketing for ABC & General Entertainment, explained: “Giving back to this deserving community has been a pillar of our campaign from day one, and thanks to several incredible partnerships, like our collaboration with Scholastic, we’ve had the great fortune of celebrating teachers through supply donations, grassroots activations and more, while also sharing the joy of our hilarious new comedy.”
According to Variety, the partnership makes ABC “the first entertainment brand to provide underfunded schools with free book fairs.”
Kudos to ABC and Abbott Elementary for using their platform to support real-life teachers and students.
Photo Courtesy of Gilles Mingasson/ABC/Getty Images