Meet Jo Beth Reeves from Kilgore, Texas

Jo Beth Reeves has been teaching young children for 30 years and is starting her fifth year as a teacher with the Head Start program in Kilgore, Texas. She has requested $3,000 for reading material, books and magazines for low-income children. Jo Beth sees the need for children to have books in their lives at a young age and has seen first hand the benefits of reading to young children. Each year, this dedicated teacher tries to give books to her students several times throughout the year. These books are read to the children for a couple weeks before they receive their own copy. This enables the child to get the most from his/her gift. These books are sent home with the children to provide their own personal library. “The children are delighted to get a book after we have read it several times and they have bonded with the book,” says Jo Beth. “Then they treasure that possession and the desire to read is planted.”


As a Head Start teacher, Jo Beth spends her day working with and planning for her class of 17 three year olds. She feeds them breakfast, lunch and a snack. They go to the computer lab daily and play both outdoors and inside. Their play is meant to teach social skills as well as academic, cognitive skills. They also have short time spans of whole group time in which they read books, talk about the stories, use puppets, etc. Jo Beth hopes more people will realize the importance of books for young children’s development. We got the message and are happy to provide new books.

Diary Starts Here

November 19th, 2008
Jo Beth emailed us recently to say she carried out her first book distribution. Jo Beth said, "We gave out “Cookie’s Week”. If you do not know of this book, you need to find a copy and share it with a little one... It is great!! My kids took it home and “read” it to their families!! Thanks again for making all of this possible!!"

September 11th, 2008
Jo Beth is already ordering books! She says she cannot wait to give the children their first books and she promises to send lots of pictures. Jo Beth was featured on the front page of her local paper and was on the evening news. Now everyone else can be as proud of her as we are!

September 8th, 2008
It was a pleasure to call Jo Beth today with the news that she'd be getting her new books. Assistant principal Julie Latham was a big help as she gathered everyone in the teachers' room. Present for the phone call were the school principal, assistant superintendent, and some helpers along with Miss Watermelon and Miss Zebra. Jo Beth expained how the new books will be used. They will read the books over and over with the 3 and 4-year olds and then, once they have bonded with their favorite book, the children get to take it home. Jo Beth will be sending photos of her little munchkins.