Attached to its hit freshman sitcom “Abbott Elementary,” ABC has partnered with Scholastic to become the first entertainment brand to provide underfunded schools with free book fairs.
The book fairs take place at seven Title 1 schools between March 14 and 18. Each student will receive two free books and each teacher will receive 10. Participating schools include Philadelphia’s Harrity Elementary, which “Abbott Elementary” is based on, as well as Diehl Elementary in Erie, Pa., Bond Elementary in Chicago, Dayton’s Bluff Elementary in Minneapolis, Freeman Elementary in Flint, Mich. and Cortada Elementary and Florence Griffith Joyner Elementary in Los Angeles.
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Additionally, ABC is relaunching its Traveling Teacher’s Lounge initiative, which provides teachers with books from Scholastic, classroom supplies, breakfast and “Abbott Elementary” merchandise. The first round of the lounge, which began on Jan. 3 and visited schools in Philadelphia, New York, New Jersey and Maryland, donated more than 1,000 books, 10,000 notebooks, 100,000 writing utensils and 15,000 art and craft materials. The six new stops added to the traveling lounge are Dallas on March 10, Houston on March 11, Santa Fe, N.M. on March 15, Phoenix on March 16, Reno, Nev. on March 18 and Los Angeles on March 22.
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“‘Abbott Elementary’ shines light on and reflects the experiences and challenges faced by our country’s educators,” said Erin Weir, executive vice president of marketing for ABC & General Entertainment. “We had an extraordinary opportunity and responsibility to amplify that mission in our series marketing efforts. Giving back to this deserving community has been a pillar of our campaign from day one, and thanks to several incredible partnerships, like our collaboration with Scholastic, we’ve had the great fortune of celebrating teachers through supply donations, grassroots activations and more, while also sharing the joy of our hilarious new comedy.”
“Our mission at Scholastic has always been to support teachers and provide them with the resources and materials needed to build warm, positive classroom experiences for their students. That’s why we are so thrilled to team up with ABC and ‘Abbott Elementary’ — a show dedicated to uplifting educators and reflecting their experiences — to put books into the classrooms that need them most and get kids excited about reading and learning,” added Billy DiMichele, senior vice president of creative development at Scholastic.
“Abbott Elementary” is a workplace comedy starring creator Quinta Brunson as Janine Teagues, a young and eager second grade teacher doing her best to support the students of her underfunded Philadelphia school. For support, she relies on colleagues including two more experienced less optimistic teachers (Sheryl Lee Ralph and Lisa Ann Walter), an overbearing fellow newbie (Jacob Hill), a kooky and disinterested principal (Janelle James) and a new substitute teacher (Tyler James Williams).
Executive producers include Brunson, Randall Einhorn, Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker. The series, which has received the strongest comedy ratings since the finale of “Modern Family” in 2020, debuted in December 2021 and will return to ABC with new episodes on March 22.
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