Collinsville Elementary students can now obtain books from a vending machine thanks to a partnership with Atmos Energy.
Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Atmos Energy is a natural-gas distributor who enjoys giving back to the community, specifically pushing for childhood literacy.
“There’s a huge correlation between childhood literacy and success,” Travis Buckner, Manager of Public Affairs at Atmos, said.
The company looks at big and little schools in the area to decide who might benefit the most from a partnership. They consider average household income and number of students on free/reduced lunches to determine which students might be most impacted and motivated to succeed.
Last year, Atmos provided 300 backpacks, 300 water bottles and 300 pencil bags to Collinsville Independent School District (CISD). This year, they wanted to do something more significant for education.
Buckner, whose duties include handling donation dollars and community efforts and involvement, together with his team has recently been partnering with Global Vending Group.
Global Vending sells book vending machines and book packages for schools that operate on a token system. Students can earn tokens from school staff through opportunities like honor roll and student of the month. Each book in the vending machine costs one token. As soon as students earn a token, they can “buy” a book from the machine.
When Buckner’s data pointed to Collinsville as a possible recipient of this year’s book vending machine, it was especially meaningful. A graduate of S&S, as a high schooler Buckner babysat for the family of now-CISD Superintendent Matthew Davenport, whose wife (at that time) was a math teacher at S&S. Additionally, Buckner’s coach at S&S is the current coach at Collinsville.
“Having those local ties makes this even more special,” Buckner said.
Buckner reached out to Davenport to see if CISD would be interested in partnering with Atmos. It was an easy “yes” for the superintendent.
Atmos provided the vending machine (which costs anywhere from $7,000-$8,000), a package of books to fill the machine (in a variety of reading levels for a range of ages) and a five-year warranty.
“We partnered with the Collinsville Education Foundation,” Buckner said. “We got them started with the initial donation to cover the cost of the machine and the books, and the foundation will keep it going.”
Books need to be 8”x5” in size to ensure they fit in the machine. Other than that, the school can decide which books to keep in stock. The machine was delivered to Collinsville Elementary School last Tuesday and on Thursday, Buckner and Kyle Cassell, Atmos Operations Supervisor and Collinsville resident, were on-site to present it to the students. Buckner was the first person to purchase a book from the machine.
“The process was easy – just like buying a Coke!” he said.
The machine will be overseen by Collinsville librarian Elisha Robertson, who managed such a machine when she previously worked in Howe. It’s the second one in the Texoma area that Atmos has provided in the past year.
“It’s been a very easy process and the kids love it,” Collinsville Elementary Principal Danny Bates said. “We’re very thankful to Atmos, Travis and Kyle.”
