GROVE CITY — In the Grove City School District, support for literacy is growing.

The Adopt-A-Classroom Program that began five years ago at one school has begun to take root in another.

The program originated at the Highland Primary Center

to gain

support for reading education. For $100 per year, a person or group can sponsor a single classroom. The money is used by that room's teacher to purchase age-appropriate books to be kept in the room.

All the classrooms at Highland are already sponsored for the year, which left interested businesses looking for another outlet. Nearby

Hillview Elementary School readily welcomed them.

"It was successful at Highland," said Dave Foley, principal at Hillview. "We thought it would be a good idea up here, and there were other businesses that want to get onboard."

For its remaining classrooms, Hillview's staff is in the process of finding businesses and community members interested in becoming sponsors. The school has 28 classrooms, which educate students in third through sixth grades.

Foley said some business owners have already committed to the program because their own children are currently in the school.

According to Teri Ketler, the instructional support teacher at Highland who helps to oversee that school's classroom sponsorship program, identifying business-owner parents is an effective way for them to sign up sponsors.

Some business owners sponsor their child's class every year, moving their sponsorship from grade to grade, while other businesses pick a classroom and keep it.

Sponsors are recognized by a sign over the doorway of their classroom, and books purchased with their money are labeled with the company's name. Some teachers even put the sponsorship books on a separate shelf, Ketler said.

"It is very beneficial because I have to have reading materials for every grade level," Ketler said. Since she works one-on-one with students from all grades in Highland, her reading materials have to reflect the spectrum of kindergarten through third grade reading levels.

The sponsor program also helps to keep classroom reading collections current.

"After books are handled for awhile, they become unappealing for the children," Ketler said. The sponsorship program allows her to replace worn books.

In addition to giving money, sponsors are invited to participate in special classroom activities, such as plays and awards assemblies. Some sponsors even visit their classrooms to read to students.

Dorothy McMillen of the Snow Goose Inn in Grove City visits her sponsored kindergarten class at least once a month. Most recently, she sat down with students to read "'Twas the Night before Christmas" and to play alphabet bingo.

McMillen has sponsored a class since the program began.

"It was such a worthwhile project. Reading is so important in today's world," she said. "I get a big kick out of seeing the little ones because the world's such a different place than what it used to be."

McMillen believes that helping to provide the students with age-appropriate reading material gives them an alternative to watching TV.

Those wanting to sponsor a classroom can contact Foley at 724-458-7570.