Building a better tomorrow with books

VENICE — Venice High School students are giving back to the community one book at a time for their end of the year project, and with it, a pay-it-forward feature, too.

Kara Mopps, an International Baccalaureate and Advanced Placement Literature teacher at VHS, saved “caring” as the last of the IB Learner Profiles for students to explore and master this semester.

Mopps’ two Pre-IB Inquiry Skills classes were asked to make a personal commitment to their community through a project to make a positive difference in the lives of others.

“I was trying to think of a philanthropic project that could be embraced by the community that would allow them to exercise their interests a bit more,” Mopps said.

Students chose the The Little Free Library project to promote literacy.

Little Free Library is a nonprofit organization with a mission to advocate for reading and literacy accessibility through volunteer-led, free book-exchange boxes.

Mopp’s seventh and eighth period classes participated in the project.

Trials, Tribulations of Turtle Library

Emily Kelly became the eighth-period project’s “city planner,” where she met with Venice city official Rick Simpson to propose the class project and discuss city regulations, costs and locations.

“It went really great, and working through the plans was fun with Mr. Simpson,” Kelly said.

Student Alex Kehoe was assigned project manager.

“One thing I’ve learned is that managing kids is not easy,” Kehoe said, saying she had to quickly learn how to get committees to coexist and communicate with one another.

But planning and managing a project is only half the work. Building the library took a second set of skills and students.

Triton Nguyen, of the building and construction committee, said the process of constructing the library included heavy machinery lessons with VHS workshop teacher Stan Griswald and working with four others.

“At the beginning, we got a cabinet to start with, and then we met every week as a committee to talk about what to build with it,” Nguyen said.

With its seaside location, students chose to incorporate a nautical theme within their little library.

Students are excited at seeing the finished product in a few weeks.

“I put this much time and effort into, so I gotta see it,” Nguyen said.

Lobbying for Literacy, One Book At a Time

Mopps’ seventh period students plan to place a second site of a Little Free Library in the lobby of Hotel Venezia.

“We are hoping that the Little Free Library from VHS will welcome (tourists) into our community,” Mopps said.

Jenna Mizanin, a student on the fundraiser committee, said each class was given a goal between $500 to $700.

“I really like how this program has gotten the opportunity to see how each of our little actions has made a direct change globally,” Mizanin said.

Eventually, the idea they came up with took some outside-of-the-box thinking to build, too.

The seventh period construction crew built the library to feature a gator with silicone eyes and teeth adorning the front, giving the appearance of its mouth opening when a visitor goes to grab a book.

“We got to vote on it and came up with the idea of an alligator, but because we aren’t master craftsmen, we had to figure out how to turn a rectangle box into an alligator,” seventh period project manager Amelia Kerestely said.

A Better Tomorrow with Books

Little Free Library allows students to get hands-on experience, Mopps said, offering Pre-IB classes a chance to get a taste of philanthropy before they complete one on their own as part of the IB program’s requirements for graduation, Mopps said.

“I wanted to get them excited about learning,” Mopps said. “I think if it’s accessible, it could spread reading a little bit more.”

The two classes will also host a ribbon-cutting ceremony during the beginning of May to commemorate their hard work and the start of what many students hope will become a longstanding community tradition.

“It just feels nice to be a part of something bigger, and I can walk past this one day and know the difference I’ve made in my community,” Jenna Mizanin said.