Park View Intermediate School’s GEAR UP program is hosting a book fair at the Barnes & Noble located on Farimont Parkway on Saturday, Dec. 8 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Park View’s eighth grade students and their parents may attend to receive a free Webster’s Notebook Dictionary, courtesy of GEAR UP.

“This notebook dictionary is something the students will be able to use for many years to come throughout their education,” said Park View’s GEAR UP coordinator Laurie Etnyre.

Etnyre said she encourages parents, students and community members to come to the book fair because they can use a Book Fair Voucher, which will apply a percentage of each purchase to Park View’s eighth grade fund. Barnes & Noble will also allow anyone else coming into the store to use one of the vouchers.

“Last year, we earned more than $370 from a percentage of sales,” Etnyre said. “We would like to combine last year’s book fair sales to this year’s sales and purchase a college shirt for all of the eighth graders.”

GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) is a federal program designed to encourage students to attend either a college or university after their high school graduation and to prepare them for college success. The district received a $1.6 million grant and implemented the program last year at eight of the district’s 10 intermediate schools.

Etnyre said the book fair at Barnes & Noble will be beneficial to parents and students.

“This book fair gives parents and their students a reason to visit a large bookstore such as Barnes & Noble,” she said. “Many students and their parents have not had the opportunity to ever visit a bookstore, and there is nothing like walking around and looking at all the different types of books available for students and parents.”

Etnyre also said the book fair encourages reading among students.

“The more students read, the better reader they will become, and good readers make good students,” she said. “When the parents bring their students to the book store for the fair, they are showing their support for their student to become more involved in reading. Perhaps, the parents will also become more active in reading.”

So far this year, Park View’s eighth grade GEAR UP students have taken a field trip to the University of Houston’s Fine Arts school where they watched five one-act plays and toured the university’s admittance center. Students in the honor classes also had the opportunity to go on a UH Honors tour and attend a tailgate party and football game. All students will tour Rice and Houston Baptist University in May as well as tour UH’s Hotel and Restaurant Management school, go on a Culinary Arts field trip, explore the field of fashion design and other field trips exploring other careers.

“I believe by encouraging students to read more every day, GEAR UP is helping prepare students to be more successful now and in the future,” Etnyre said. “Teaching students to be life-long learners is one of the most important skills GEAR UP can do for students.”