Indiana DECA Book Drive
- Indiana High School State Officer Team
- Oct 7
- 2 min read
"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”-Dr. Seuss
Did you know that gaps in vocabulary can appear as early as 18 months?
Or that third grade reading ability is one of the best predictors of high school graduation rates?
Despite this, over 14,000 third graders in Indiana did not meet reading proficiency standards in 2024. That’s 14,000 out of about 67,500, or a shocking 20.7%.
That’s 10 in a class of 50…
6 in a class of 30…
Or 1 child in a family of 5 kids.
Because of this, Indiana DECA is working to combat the declining literacy rate throughout the Hoosier state with our District Book Drive! Each region of Indiana DECA will be running an individual book drive at respective district level competitions.
As the DECA year begins, we are asking chapters to encourage their members to collect as many new and gently used books as possible to be donated locally. These books will be distributed to places like:
Little free libraries
Hospitals
Police stations
Fire stations
Daycares
And more!
Books will be collected individually by chapters. Chapters will have two options for book delivery in order to facilitate collection:
Option 1: Collect all books individually and bring them to district competitions with an official count. The Region President for that district will collect the books and distribute them from there.
Option 2: Take a picture of all collected books and send this to the Region President with an official book count. The Region President along with another state officer will organize an opportunity to collect and distribute those books.
Book drive communications from the state officer team began in September of this year. Collections will continue until district competitions, where the chapter with the largest collection margin by chapter size will be recognized. Keep an eye out in your inbox and on social media for further information, especially as district competitions approach!
Our Why:
As an association, Team 80 wants to showcase our appreciation for the vast educational opportunities we have received across the state of Indiana and help make these opportunities more widely available for all students. Some of our state officers have said…
“Reading provides an escape and lets me live in different worlds.” - Tiki Zheng, Region 5 President
“Literacy is how I express my creativity!” - Isaac Schroeder, VP of Finance
“Reading promotes thoughtfulness and prepares the next generation of leaders.” - Sai Boda, State President
Indiana DECA is excited to promote increased literacy and education throughout the state of Indiana this year and cannot wait to see all of our chapters GO THE EXTRA in their book collections. Let’s get reading!
Written by Abigail DeHondt, Region 2 President
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