About Us
The Idaho Kids Vote Book Award strives to:
encourage students to read outstanding, recently-published books
give kids an outlet to discuss the books they read
connect kids from across Idaho to help them better understand all of the people who call our state home
Since the 2016-2017 school year the Idaho Kids Vote Book Award has been open to public and private school classrooms and homeschoolers throughout the state of Idaho. Participating classes make the nominated books available to students throughout the school year. (Tips for stocking your library) Those classes are also encouraged to connect with other classes through blog posts, videoconference calls, and other means to share opinions about the nominated books. In the spring, students who have read two or more of the nominated books will be given the link to a voting site where they can place their votes for the winner. The winning book will be announced in May. Following the announcement of the year's winner, nominations will be accepted for the following year's award.
The Idaho Kids Vote Book Award was inspired by the Oregon Reader's Choice Awards and the Global Read Aloud.
IDkidsvote founder, Jim Windisch
Jim Windisch has taught in the Coeur d'Alene School District since 2003 as a fifth grade teacher and in the elementary Advanced Learning Program. He is passionate about helping students develop their curiosity to become life-long learners. The Idaho Kids Vote Book Award is his first attempt at organizing a statewide project. He previously helped organize EdcampCd'A, Edcamp Idaho and a number of special projects at his own school. He is on the board of trustees for the Coeur d'Alene Public Library. He occasionally blogs about education at blog.jimwindisch.com