Four Mooseheart students and four Rotolo Middle School students pose with some of the 250 books Rotolo donated to Mooseheart. In the top row, from left are Aaron Viland (Rotolo), Brandon Johnson (Rotolo), Tim Givens (Mooseheart) and Hameed Odunewu (Mooseheart.) In the bottom row are Tiffany Parker (Rotolo), Lauren Stangl (Rotolo), Jordan Stone (Mooseheart) and Candace Casey (Mooseheart.)  (Click Photo To Enlarge)

MOOSEHEART, IL, March 15 -- There has been a strong connection between Mooseheart's school children and those at Sam Rotolo Middle School in Batavia, IL School District 101 for some time -- and that thread got tighter on Monday, when Mooseheart took delivery of 250 Scholastic Books from Carolyn Parker's sixth-grade class at Rotolo.

Parker earned her right to have books to donate to an "in-need" school in the area through Scholastic's "Classrooms Care" program, which has had participation from over 1 million classrooms since 2001, according to Scholastic's Web site. Classrooms Care has a goal of putting 1 million books into the hands of in-need children nationwide.

By reading 100 books, Parker's class was entered into a sweepstakes for a chance to win 500 books which they could distribute to an area school with students in-need -- and they were one of the winning schools in the sweepstakes competition.

"I told the kids the next day and I said: 'What do you think? Where can we donate these books?'" Parker said. "Mooseheart was actually the first name that came up."

Parker's class donated half its allotment to Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago and the remaining 250 books are now in Mooseheart's library.

"What a great joy to hear from Ms. Parker," Mooseheart Superintendent of Education Gary Urwiler said. "It's the joy of giving, and she was really excited about that. It's awesome that they thought of us right away. We'll benefit from these 250 books greatly."

The 25,000-resident community of Batavia is just north of Mooseheart -- and its public school district has had a strong working relationship with Mooseheart for years.

"I've had students in my class who were waiting to be able to live at Mooseheart," Parker said. "I know there are students here who receive Special Education services who live at Mooseheart. I think it's a place that is close to everyone's heart in this community."

Urwiler and four Mooseheart students collected the books from Parker and some of her students. He said the connection between the two schools has been strengthened through its reading program, making a donation of books all the more appropriate.

"This year was the first year we've participated in a Battle of the Books, where our book club went up against their book club," Urwiler said. "We took three teams over and our kids did very well. It was just nice for us to be there and to mingle and to know we were reading the same books as they were."

Urwiler said that while Rotolo and Mooseheart have had athletic contests against each other in the past at the middle-school level, connections are also being made in the classroom.

"It is definitely another aspect of being able to connect," Urwiler said. "With regard to reading, this is a great way for us to enhance our reading program and to give them exposure to other schools so that our students know they are doing the same things other schools do."

Mooseheart Child City & School is a 1,000-acre community and school for children and teens in need of a secure home, located just south of Batavia, IL, between Illinois Route 31 and Randall Road.

Founded in 1913, Mooseheart is supported completely through private donations -- the great majority of which come from the 1.1 million men and women of the Moose fraternal organization, in more than 1,900 Lodges and 1,600 Chapters located throughout the U.S., Canada, Great Britain and Bermuda. Moose International headquarters is located on the Mooseheart campus.

Since its founding, Mooseheart has operated a complete, accredited kindergarten-through-high-school academic program, plus art, music, vocational training and interscholastic sports. It is an extremely nurturing and student-tailored program, with an average student-teacher ratio of 12-1.

Mooseheart students who complete their studies with a 3.0 GPA or better (4.0=A) are eligible for up to five years of annually renewable scholarship funding, covering tuition, room and board in an amount comparable to that required for an in-state student at an Illinois public university.

Mooseheart is currently home to nearly 250 students, ranging in age from preschoolers to high school seniors. Applications for admission to Mooseheart are considered from any family whose children are, for whatever reason, lacking a stable home environment. Mooseheart boasts its own U.S. Post Office and a fully functioning branch of Fifth Third Bank.

In addition to Mooseheart, Moose International also supports Moosehaven, a 70-acre retirement community near Jacksonville, FL founded in 1922; and conducts more than $90 million worth of community service programs annually.

Founded in 1888, the Moose organization has long offered its members an opportunity to do good for others while celebrating life, with family, social, and sporting activities. For more information on the Moose organization, visit the websites at www.mooseintl.org, www.moosehaven.org, www.moosecharities.org, or call 630-966-2229.