MAYFIELD, KY - Graves County Middle School has earned one of four second-place prizes in the Scholastic Book Fairs National Middle School Student Crew Contest, winning $1,000 in books and educational resources from Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company.

Graves County Middle School won the semi-annual competition by recruiting 30 students to the “Student Crew,” a team of middle school students who help plan, promote, and run a Scholastic Book Fair. The competition encourages students to host the best Book Fair in the nation by creating contests, designing advertising campaigns, hosting activities, and developing themes, all aimed at attracting and increasing student and adult interest in the Book Fair, as well as in books and reading.

During their Book Fair last fall, Graves County Student Crew members adopted the theme “Reading State of Mind” and transformed their library into the Big Apple complete with a New York City skyline backdrop, taxicabs, a Statue of Liberty cutout, and an “I Heart Books” banner. The Crew even converted the cashier stand into a New York City hot dog stand. To promote the Book Fair, Crew members created a Facebook event page and a Book Fair commercial that aired on the school news.

At a Book Fair sneak preview, Crew members treated teachers to New York City hot dogs served from a hot dog cart and helped them fill out their Classroom Wish Lists. To generate excitement about the Book Fair, students received tickets for purchasing a book, and were entered into a drawing. The winning students got a chance to turn their principal into a human hot dog, complete with ketchup, mustard, chili, and relish.

Scholastic Book Fairs Senior Marketing Manager Rachel Schwartz praised the level of enthusiasm and competitive spirit shown by Graves County Middle School and other schools across the country involved in the Book Fair program.

“We applaud the efforts of the school for making reading a priority and helping their school rally around reading by creating an exciting Book Fair,” said Schwartz. “This is a great example of how students can come together and encourage their peers to explore the love of books and the thrill of reading. It was difficult to choose only one winner from the many outstanding submissions we received.”

J.E.J. Moore Middle School in Disputanta, VA, earned the first-place award for the contest, winning a visit from best-selling author Gordon Korman and $2,000 in Scholastic books and educational resources. Four schools, including Graves County Middle School, received second-place awards worth $1,000 in Scholastic merchandise, and seven schools each received a President’s Award for Exceptional Performance worth $500 in Scholastic merchandise.

For more information about Scholastic Book Fairs, please visit www.scholastic.com/bookfairs.