At a news conference on Monday morning, AFT President Randi Weingarten said the West Virginia Federation of Teachers and its partner organization, the West Virginia School Service Personnel Association, were among five organizations nationwide to receive this year's AFT Innovation Fund grant.

"What we're trying to do is make sure there's books in the library for kids to have, but also books at home for kids to have," Weingarten said.

Debbie Cannada, the librarian at West Side Elementary, will also receive a $1,000 budget to order books for her students.

Judy Hale, president of the West Virginia Federation of Teachers, said the state group has partnered with First Book, a nonprofit organization that connects community organizations with book publishers to help get books in the hands of needy children.

Books like "Love That Dog," "Chang's Paper Pony," "Lunch Lady" and, of course, "Charlotte's Web," covered a table in the new West Side Elementary School's library on Monday.

Hale said the WVFT could keep receiving grant money for up to three years if the effort proves successful.

Weingarten, Hale and other state and local leaders joined state Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin, who is acting as governor, at the news conference. 

Weingarten, who leads the national teachers union that represents 1.5 million pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade teachers, also discussed the community-school concept underway on Charleston's West Side.  

"Community involvement in schools is essential for us to grow a nation," Weingarten said.

At a roundtable discussion earlier Monday, community leaders and Kanawha County school officials talked about the direction the new West Side Elementary School has taken.

Kanawha Superintendent Ron Duerring said that some parents might not feel comfortable talking to teachers or administrators because they had a bad experience in school. School staff members reach out to family members, but there's also the "community office" located on the school's campus. 

The community office -- staffed with help from the Charleston Community and Family Development Corporation -- is a way for people in the neighborhood to connect with services for their children and themselves.     

Ralph Miller, chief executive officer of the Charleston Community and Family Development Corporation, said the community office runs after-school programs and connects families with Prestera and other services.

Meanwhile, the school's health clinic and dental clinic could open after West Side students return from a break in early October.

Rev. Matthew Watts, the pastor at Grace Bible Church and president/CEO of Hope Community Development Corp., called the land where the school now sits "sacred ground." In the 19th century and before West Virginia's statehood, a large slave plantation occupied the land along the Kanawha River.

"We redeemed this land," Watts said.  

Guests at the roundtable also discussed dropout prevention and vocational education on Charleston's West Side.     

Cynthia Phillips, a special education teacher at Capital High School, said schools would benefit from more parent involvement and more vocational and technical opportunities for students. 

Tomblin noted new legislation that requires all new middle schools built in West Virginia to be "vocational equipped."

Yvonne Lee, a graduate student in social work, worries about local teenagers who've told her they plan to drop out of school and get pregnant. She wishes it wasn't so easy for them to simply drop out.        

Reach Davin White at davinwh...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1254.