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Gold, Khourey & Turak Donates Almost 700 Books to Hilltop Elementary School in Sherrard

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Photo Provided Attorneys from Gold, Khourey & Turak visited Hilltop Elementary School on Thursday to help motivate students to read with a delivery of nearly 700 books. Shown are, from left, front, Mikenzie Bailey, Ely Durrah, Kabe Blake and Kaydence Willis; middle, Landon Potts and Kolson Shepard; back Hilltop Elementary Librarian Mary Amedro, attorney Christopher Turak and attorney Teena Miller.

Gold, Khourey & Turak delivered nearly 700 books Thursday to students at Hilltop Elementary School.

The donation was made possible by Scholastic Book Clubs, a division of Scholastic, a children's publishing, education and media company.

"One of the greatest gifts a child can learn is not just the skill to read, but the excitement for it," said attorney Christopher Turak. "When kids are excited to read, they read a lot more.

"Reading is the foundation for all learning, it stimulates imagination, leads to stronger analytical thinking skills, and better writing skills," he said. "I remember my mother reading to me as a child, one of my favorite books was 'Charlotte's Web.' My mother was a teacher, and really made a point to share the excitement for reading with me. We are proud to collaborate with Scholastic Book Clubs to provide these books to Hilltop Elementary."

Scholastic provided nine titles to every second-grader to take home, a complete set of titles to each second-grade classroom and a complete set to the school's library.

Cindy McCutcheon, principal at Hilltop, said she is thrilled with the books and thanked the law firm and book company for the donation.

"Our students love reading, and we are so grateful for the books," she said.

Prior to the presentation, students were introduced to Scholastic Book Clubs' Book Boys and attorney Teena Miller read "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed A Bat" to second-graders. Turak's nephew, Jamie, works at Scholastic and is a member of the Book Boys. Each week the Book Boys create classroom-friendly videos for kids to get them excited about reading and help them discover new books.

"Maybe your child is too young to read or has difficulty reading, or just hasn't found the love yet -- but you shouldn't give up," Miller said. "Taking time to read to your child can help them learn to love to read. We are proud to team with Scholastic Book Clubs to celebrate the excitement of reading with local students."

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