North Elementary fourth graders each received their very own hard-covered copy of Shel Silverstein’s “Where the Sidewalk Ends,” on Tuesday as part of the Greater Mankato Area United Way’s book project which covers a four-county area in south central Minnesota
North's fourth graders pose with their new copy of
Shel Silverstein's "Where the Sidewalk Ends."
Every spring since 2017, the Olseth Family Foundation and Greater Mankato Area United Way have provided approximately 1,700 brand-new, hard copies of this book to fourth-graders throughout Blue Earth, Le Sueur, Nicollet and Waseca counties.
North fourth graders gathered in the school’s media center to meet with Karli DesLauriers, Greater Mankato Area United Way’s office and programming manager, and Amanda Slingsby, a local United Way volunteer from the Jay Zender Agency. The two United Way reps offered some insight into the Olseth Family Foundation’s donation and S
ilverstein’s book, before distributing almost 180 copies to the North students.
After each fourth grader had a copy of the book, one of the fourth grade teachers, Ms. Mathiowetz, and a handful of fourth graders took turns reading their favorite poems from “Where the Sidewalk Ends.”