School’s book drive ends with thousands of books going to children’s hospital

A group of Wilmette students began their spring break buried in books.

But that was the plan after Highcrest Middle School collected nearly 2,500 books for donation to Shriners Children’s Chicago, a children’s hospital on the city’s far northwest side that specializes in pediatric orthopedic care.

Four students — Grace McLaughlin, Elisha Lee, Petey Van Der Voort and Estelle Weissbluth — dropped off the books on March 24.

“We chose Shriners Children’s because they offer a great children’s program,” Elisha Lee reportedly told the Shriners team. “We also chose Shriners because they can take gently used books and some other hospital do not.”

The entire school reportedly contributed to the book drive, but the idea for the program began during story time in Rebecca Bartsch’s sixth-grade class.

Bartsch and her students brought the idea to the Highcrest student council, which helped get the entire school involved. The result was 2,451 gently used books.

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