Investment firm partners with Scholastic to give this Folsom Cordova district school a book fair

Scores of “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” the “I Survived” series and junior novelizations of children’s films lined the shelves in the Cordova Meadows Elementary School library for the Rancho Cordova school’s first book fair in eight years.

Aundria Perez’s first-grade class bustled with excitement as they lined up outside the door Tuesday morning: they each got to take three books home free of charge.

The absence of price was made possible by Wedbush Securities, an investment firm based out of Los Angeles. It was part of the larger WedbushCares initiative that encourages colleagues to partner, volunteer and contribute to their communities, according to April Young, a Wedbush vice president market manager in the greater Sacramento area.

Young said that Wedbush partnered with the Scholastic Corporation, and it reached out to Cordova Meadows principal, Amber Fontaine, because the elementary school was on a list of Title I institutions. The Title I program provides financial assistance to schools with high percentages of children from low-income families, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

Cordova Meadows is part of the Folsom Cordova Unified School District.

Fontaine oversees preschool through fifth-grade students and said they love to read.

“Many of our families don’t have books at home and this is an opportunity for them to read at night and have that family bonding time,” Fontaine said. “I am really excited that Scholastic has also done a lot of diversity in their books. A lot of our kids see themselves in the books that they’re picking out.”

Jaivonn Days, a first-grade student at Cordova Meadows, picked out “Sonic the Hedgehog 2: Official Movie Novel” by Kiel Phegley – listed online at Scholastic for $7.99.

He said he chose the book “because (Sonic) is my favorite speedy character. I love speedsters, and they have shows on my favorite ones.”

Jordin Bramwell, a classmate of Days’ said she picked a book about libraries because she was in the library when she saw it. Her second book, by Jen Arena, was slightly more majestic.

“I brought this one, ‘Sleep Tight, Snow White,’ because I love princesses,” she said.

Other first-graders like Leandre Williams and Isaiah Purnell decided on books about video games like Mario and Roblox.

Kevin Jordan is the senior vice president of diversity and community outreach at Wedbush and flew out from the Chicago office for a visit during the program.

“We’re really excited about this new partnership,” he said. “It’s going to give us an opportunity to come in, roll up our sleeves, and engage with students and build better schools. I think when you build better schools, you build better communities.”