St. Anne’s school in Dixon encourages student academic development with book vending machine

The machine is stocked with 25 books ranging from preschool to sixth-grade reading levels

Raelie Bilharz, sixth grader at St. Anne’s, drops in a token to test the book vending machine Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. Students earn tokens to purchase the books by meeting academic goals.

DIXON – A vending machine – one that dispenses books instead of candy – has been unveiled at St. Anne’s School in Dixon as a learning incentive for students who reach their academic or behavioral goals.

Students in preschool through sixth grade are awarded a token after reaching their goal. They’ll drop their token into the machine, choose one of 25 books, punch in its corresponding number, and watch as the machine lights up and dispenses their chosen book, St. Anne’s Secretary Sue Godsil said in an interview with Shaw Local.

She said the students have been excited about it, and it’s something fun to encourage them to grow academically.

A parishioner donated the Inchy’s Bookworm-branded vending machine to the school and keeps the machine stocked with books ranging from preschool to sixth-grade reading levels. Teachers and other staff will recommend certain books or a series that they know students will be excited about, Godsil said.

One of the current crowd-pleasers among students is “The Bad Guys” by Aaron Blabley. It’s “about bad guys that turn into good guys,” fifth grader Nolan Etheridge told Shaw Local.

Others include the “Goosebumps” series by R. L. Stine, “Dog Man” by Dav Pilkey and “Bridge to Terabithia” by Katherine Paterson as well as some for the younger students such as “Corduroy” by Don Freeman and “Super Peppa!”

For sixth grader Raelie Bilharz, she said her plan is to reach her math goal on Waggle, a digital learning platform used at the school.

As for third grader Klara Valdez, she said she’s working toward scoring 100% on both her math and spelling tests.

Some kindergarten students are using a goal chart to improve reading skills. For example, one goal on the chart is to be able to read 50 “sight words,” which include words such as “the,” “of” and “with,” Principal Talarie Bilharz said.

After a student reaches their goal, gets their token and has chosen a book, they’ll set another goal and the cycle will repeat, Godsil said.

Have a Question about this article?
Payton Felix

Payton Felix

Payton Felix reports on local news in the Sauk Valley for the Shaw Local News Network. She received her Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Illinois at Chicago in May of 2023.