This bus driver keeps a bucket of books for kids to read on her route

It’s always nice to have a little reading material during your commute (as long as you’re not driving!). That’s why Julie Callison, a special education teacher and bus driver in the Drew Central School District in Arkansas, keeps a stash of books in the front of her bus for kids on her route to read.

The Arkansas Department of Education wrote about and shared photos of her awesome mobile library on Facebook.

“Special Education teacher Julie Callison of the Drew Central School District decided to create a culture of reading on her daily bus route,” they wrote.

Kids can be seen holding up their choice of reading material for the day alongside a photo of the “bucket of books” from which they can choose.

“The way this works is, when students get on the bus they can get up to three books,” Callison explains in the post. “After they read those, they can share with students around them, then put them in the bucket on the way out the door.”

Callison notes that the students also read to each other, regardless of whether they’re younger or older. In addition to reading throughout the week, a high school or middle school student acts as the day’s “special guest reader” on Friday afternoons.

“They pick out a book, sit on the front seat and read it over the speaker to the whole bus. They love this!” she says, also adding the hashtags #RISEArkansas and #TeachArkansas.

Alongside the description of the weekly book practices, the Arkansas Department of Education also shared two photos: one of Julie’s bucket of books and another of a selfie that she took with all of her students on her bus holding up books in the background.

People on Facebook thought this was a great idea, and the post has since gone viral. It has racked up more than 4,000 shares and 3,000 likes, as well as hundreds of comments.

Many expressed their enthusiasm for the idea in the comments, with some saying they hoped a similar system would be implemented at their own children’s schools.

Adobe

Scholastic Book Fairs even chimed in to praise the concept, writing, “We LOVE this story!”

What an amazing teacher! We’re so glad that educators like Callison go above and beyond to encourage a love of reading in their students.

Here’s hoping her fun idea catches on all over the country.

Books, Family & Parenting, Good News, News, Parenting
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About the Author
Kate Streit
Kate Streit lives in Chicago. She enjoys stand-up comedy, mystery novels, memoirs, summer and pumpkin spice anything.

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