Teen's goal: Books for 300 students

Buist Academy eighth-grader Tyre Moore grew up in a home filled with books, but many students who live in nearby neighborhoods aren't as fortunate.

When Moore learned about the dearth of reading material in many low-income families' homes, he decided to do something about it.

The 13-year-old built a Web site and launched a project aimed at collecting enough books so each of the roughly 300 students at James Simons Elementary can have one to keep at home.

"This is a good project, and something I could do," Moore said.

Buist Academy is a candidate school for the International Baccalaureate Organization's Middle Years Program, and eighth-graders are required to complete an individual project, similar to a high school senior's thesis, that is supposed to show the skills they have learned.

Moore had been brainstorming ideas but hadn't settled on any particular one.

When he heard Joanne Calhoun, project director for Charleston Book Buddies, speak at Circular Congregational Church one weekend, he felt inspired.

Calhoun was trying to solicit support from church members, and she cited the national statistic that middle-class children have about 30 books at home compared with inner-city children, who have one book among 350 families.

The numbers struck a chord with Moore.

He approached James Simons Elementary, a school where more than 95 percent of students live in poverty. The push to improve students' reading is a major focus for school Principal Lynn Owings, who said she had been trying to figure out a way to get more books into children's homes.

Children are being set up for failure when they don't have reading materials outside of school, she said, and a lack of easily accessible books and magazines presents a tremendous challenge for children in their literacy development.

Moore's proposal would help satisfy the school's dire need for more books.

Owings was moved by the awareness of Moore to connect the national statistic with the needs in his community.

"Coming from a child, it has so much more meaning," she said.

Moore began collecting books at the beginning of November, and he's received about a dozen so far. He hopes to receive books with black characters and story lines that students can relate to, and he'll continue accepting books through Feb. 15.

Students who don't have books at home probably won't like to read, Moore said, and he hopes that will change with this project.

"It's helping them," he said.

To help

Buist Academy eighth-grader Tyre Moore has started a book drive to benefit students at downtown James Simons Elementary.

Books can be dropped off at the Meeting Street, West Ashley, James Island, Mount Pleasant and North Charleston branches of the National Bank of South Carolina, at the Charleston School of Law, and at Circular Congregational Church.

Reach Diette Courrégé at 937-5546 or dcourrege@postandcourier.com.