Benton teacher wins Patterson Partnership Grant

A Benton teacher is among 4,500 across the nation to win a Patterson Partnership Grant to help build a classroom library.

Danielle Hatfield of Benton Grade School was among those to receive a grant through renowned author James Pattterson and Scholastic Book Clubs.

Four-thousand teachers will each receive $250 in cash and 250 Scholastic Book Clubs bonus points, which they can use to purchase age-appropriate books that are needed in their classrooms. An additional 500 "new" teachers with less than three years of teaching experience will each receive $500 in cash and 500 bonus points, giving them extra critical help early in their careers.

"I write children's books with the sole goal of getting kids reading - by (hopefully) giving them a story they like to read, that in turn gets them to pick up another," Patterson said. "But without teachers, who are first showing their students how to read, and second, giving them access to books in their classrooms, we'd be nowhere. So whether they're pointing kids towards the right book, inspiring creativity, or encouraging kindess, teachers change lives every single day. And I'm humbled to be able to give back to them in some way."

The 2019 Patterson/Scholastic Book Clubs campaign drew a total of nearly 125,000 applicants, with more than 26,000 applications coming from new teachers.

To date, Patterson has donated $7.25 million to school and classroom libraries through his partnership with Scholastic Book Clubs. This year brings that total to $8.5 million.

To apply for the grant, teachers in U.S. schools from were asked to share in 50 characters or less how they planned on using the funds and bonus points to help build their classroom libraries.