COE Distributes Over 700 Books at Fall Festival

By Dave Smith
COE Director of Academic Excellence

The annual Fall Festival celebration is a time of joy for the College of Education.

“It’s always a lot of fun to meet thousands of our neighbors,” said Dean Kimberly LaPrade. “It is our way of giving back a small piece of ourselves to the community.”

Each year, the college does a theme around giving away books to the children visiting the campus. Candy may last a few bites, but books last for years. Using GCU Today Digest, a request went out for donations of children’s books.

“We sent out the COE ‘Bat Signal,’” said Brittany Catron, who, with Bethanie Lee of the Office of Field Experience, co-chaired the event. “And wow, did GCU respond. Through the generosity of GCU’s faculty and staff, we gathered over 700 children’s books for distribution during the festival.”

The college also had the children busy making handmade bookmarks to go with their new books. But the main attraction was the books.

“It’s a humbling to think that some children have never owned a book,” Lee said. “We are all simply glad to have a chance to do this.”

By the end of the evening, the books were gone. And that was a very good thing.

David Smith has been with GCU with nearly two years and serves as director of academic excellence for the College of Education. His wife, Jacqueline, is the University’s director of Career Services.