Estes Elementary School started their Wednesday morning with the unveiling of a book vending machine that was dedicated in honor of 13-year-old Jackson Roark, who died last month after battling cancer.
The book vending machine was donated by Independence Bank to help reward and incentivize students to take their love of reading home.
“Students are being encouraged to continue reading outside of the classroom. Parents and caretakers are asked to sign off on their time. Once meeting the criteria, students are awarded with a token and are allowed to choose their next book,” according to a release from Independence Bank.
Many of the books are donated in Roark’s honor. At the time of his passing, Jackson’s parents Dave and Holly Roark knew their son didn’t like flowers, so instead, they asked for books at Jackson’s visitation in July.
The Roarks said reading helped their son during his chemotherapy and in the midst of the pandemic, with the books allowing him to travel wherever he wanted to go.
“Between him going to chemotherapy and not being able to go places like he once did, and certainly once COVID hit, being able to read let him go wherever he wanted to in the world, so it was a huge escape for him,” Holly said.
Because Jackson had a book in his hand wherever he went, Holly said he would go to Narnia, Terabithia and Hogwarts — Jackson’s personal favorite, specifically the fifth book, Dave noted.
Through the donations, the Roarks now have over a thousand books stored at Holly’s work office.
According to Dave, every book has a sticker or an embossment that says “This book was provided by Jack’s stacks” with a small Harry Potter emblem in honor of Jackson’s favorite book series.
“Through him, kids are going to get these books that they may not have and be able to discover the love of reading that he had,” Dave said.
