MainStreet Warner Literacy Project
Since 2005, this project has become an enduring community tradition between the nonprofit MainStreet Warner, Inc. and Simonds Elementary School. Each year well known New England children’s authors and/or illustrators have visited the students to discuss their work and motivation, and all students receive autographed copies of the author’s featured book. The students also receive exposure to excellent writers and artists from the surrounding area, who have demonstrated their books’ impact on the lives and literacy of children across the country. Past MSW Literacy authors include: David Carroll, David Elliott, Lucinda McQueen, Jack Noon, Steven Kellogg, Maxine Kumin, Barry Moser, Mary Lyn Ray, True Kelley, Jim Arnosky, Maryann Cocca-Leffler, Caldecott Award Winner Beth Krommes, Giles Laroche and Matt Forrest Esenwine.
This year’s MainStreet Warner Literacy Project is made possible through the generous donations The Simonds PTO, the Kearsarge Regional SAU, MainStreet BookEnds, many local families, and the Nancy Sibley Wilkins Town of Warner Trust Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation.
This year’s MainStreet Warner Literacy Project is made possible through the generous donations The Simonds PTO, the Kearsarge Regional SAU, MainStreet BookEnds, many local families, and the Nancy Sibley Wilkins Town of Warner Trust Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation.
MainStreet Warner Literacy Day
May 8, 2023 marked the 19th Annual MainStreet Warner, Inc. Literacy Day at Simonds Elementary School in Warner. This year the MainStreet Warner Literacy Committee welcomed Ralph Fletcher, NH children’s author of many picture books, middle school fiction, and a writing curriculum for teachers teaching young children to write. He presented each child with an autographed copy of his latest picture book The World’s Loneliest Elephant, the true story of Kaavan the elephant, his cruel captivity in a Pakistan zoo, and the people who came together to save and move him to the Cambodia Wildlife Sanctuary. He read them the story and entertained them with funny childhood stories that appear in his books.
This year’s community partnership between MainStreet Warner, Inc., Simonds Elementary School, and MainStreet BookEnds was made possible through the generous donations of local families, MainStreet BookEnds, and with additional funding from the Kearsarge Regional School District, Simonds PTO, Warner Men’s Club, and the Nancy Sibley Wilkins Town of Warner Trust Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation.
This year’s community partnership between MainStreet Warner, Inc., Simonds Elementary School, and MainStreet BookEnds was made possible through the generous donations of local families, MainStreet BookEnds, and with additional funding from the Kearsarge Regional School District, Simonds PTO, Warner Men’s Club, and the Nancy Sibley Wilkins Town of Warner Trust Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation.
Jim Mitchell "Local Hero" Book Award
2022 Recipients of Jim Mitchell Local Hero Book Award Maximilian Reid and Lillian Powell
Initiated in 2009, this award is given annually to one boy and one girl finishing the fifth grade at Simonds Elementary School, who have demonstrated over their time in the school what it means to be a good citizen, a good friend, and show compassion toward others through acts of kindness and thoughtfulness, with no expectation of reward or recognition. This was how Jim Mitchell lived his life, setting the example for all of us of working together to make wonderful things happen for others. Each student receives a commemorative edition of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and their names are engraved on a perpetual plaque displayed in Simonds Elementary School’s Jim Mitchell Library to recognize their achievements in caring about and for others, Simonds Elementary School’s own “Local Heroes”.
Jim Mitchell Local Hero
Book Awards
2022 Lillian Powell and Maximilian Reid
2021 Harbor Dragon and Tucker Dragon
2020 Charles Page and Zoe Poret
2019 Lenah Howell and William Carson
2018 Mary Frances Reid and Owen Blood
2017 Sadie Griggs and Gabriel Olin
2016 Anna Lick and Troy Madigan
2015 Bella Wilson and Brennan Herr
2014 Quinn Antle and Travis Kane
2013 Isabelle Mann and James Donahue
2012 Hayleigh Battles and Jacob Fisher
2011 Nastassja Sicely and Samuel Lick
2010 Tess Witmer and Andrew Shampney
2009 Emily Collins and Riley Antle