REFI Book Fair at Barnes & Noble
Book Fair Shows Off Teachers, Raises Money
Posted April 16, 2011 12:00 AM EDT
Bookstore Hosts Annual REFI Event
By Joshua Brown, Daily News-Record
HARRISONBURG – It might have seemed a little out of place for a bookstore, but that didn’t stop a handful of students from jumping rope in the middle of the Barnes & Noble in Harrisonburg Crossing Friday night.
The scene took place during Rockingham Educational Foundation Inc.’s spring book fair, one of two such yearly fundraisers. Stations featuring several teachers from Rockingham County Schools who received grants through REFI were set up throughout the store.
The foundation operates as a teacher supply depot, awards student scholarships, honors teachers, hands out educator grants and provides financial and learning support through various programs.
The station that drew the biggest crowd Friday was in the back of the store, where music blared as students from Cub Run Elementary School showed off their jump rope skills. Teri Trick, the school’s physical education teacher, received a REFI grant to incorporate a human-powered music player in her class.
The player works by having someone pedal a bicycle that spins a motor connected to the wheel, which produces an electric current, said Nicholas Melas, who created the contraption. That power is then converted from direct current into alternating current through an inverter.
The alternating current powers the music player.
“It teaches them about exercise and about how much energy it takes – physical energy it takes – to power just an iPod,” Trick said, noting that students could power a TV and radio, but couldn’t work up the energy required for a toaster.
Susan Eckenrode, a teacher at John Wayland Elementary School, had students demonstrate educational building blocks, which provide activity-based learning when teaching about such subjects as the construction of the Great Wall of China and the pyramids of Egypt. Eckenrode also uses the blocks to teach about physics by having students build an inclined plane and setting a ball at its top.
“Sometimes you can build them in all kinds of ways,” said second-grader Spencer Gallon, 7.
Janet Wendelken, the foundation’s executive director, said that while the fair helps to raise funds for the county school division through REFI, it also provides an opportunity to show off some of the district’s teachers.
“This is a nice fundraiser for us and it gives us an opportunity to showcase our Innovative Idea Grants [recipients],” she said.
Barnes & Noble Assistant Manager Christopher Lauderback said REFI receives a percentage of the profits from items that customers purchase in support of the foundation during the book fair.
Contact Joshua Brown at 574-6286 or jbrown@dnronline.com
