Exeter kindergarteners across the district today were given a free book and bookmark thanks to the kind generosity of the Woman's Club of Exeter Township. This tradition, which dates back at least 30 years, is one of the club's annual events, and is closely tied to their original mission to establish a kindergarten in the township back in 1949. By 1951, the group raised the funding necessary to open a kindergarten program, operating and managing it on their own until the district added the grade level to its own programming.
Despite their long history of supporting kindergarten students in Exeter, the Woman's Club was unable to interact with kindergarten students for the last several years due to the pandemic and a shift to online kindergarten registration from an in-person event. Through those changes and challenges, the group continued to donate books to kindergarten students, but were unable to interact with the students personally. But today, that all changed as Woman's Club members came into classrooms throughout the district to hand out books and bookmarks and personally read to eager students, who were visibly excited for the story time and generous gift.
"Today was so beautiful," said Tiffany Evans, vice president of the club. "We loved being able to see their reactions to the book as we were reading it to them. It made the experience so much more rewarding."
Our deepest thanks to the Woman's Club of Exeter Township for their continued support of our kindergarteners through this tradition, as well as their ongoing support of our older students, whom they gift with scholarships and leadership opportunities annually.