kids enjoying books from the PAKRAT program

LEAF And PAKRAT

kids choosing books on the PAKRAT bus Since 2011, LEAF has been supporting the Partners And Kids Reading A-lot Together (PAKRAT) program in our District 742 elementary schools. PAKRAT provides books to all preschool through grade 3 students in District 742. PAKRAT has been funded with LEAF grants as well as generous grants given to LEAF from the Bernick’s Foundation (2012), The Morgan Family Foundation (2013) and the Otto Bremer Foundation (2014). As part of the program, students take a book home to read with their parent/partner each evening and then return the book, along with a brief worksheet about the book to their classroom teacher the next day. The program has been a great success, with our spring 2015 survey indicating:

80% of the students report that PAKRAT has made them a better reader
94% of the parents indicate they wanted the program to continue.
94% of the teachers indicate they feel PAKRAT has benefitted the literacy development of their students, and
95% of the teachers want the PAKRAT program to continue

How Can YOU Help?
The Summer Rotary Club/LEAF/District 742 PAKRAT Roll & Read Program provides a “library on wheels” during the summer months and serves as an extension of the school year PAKRAT program. We are in need of additional quality books of all genres to keep students reading so as not to lose the gains made during the school year.

If you can help by donating quality books, please contact Sara Martini at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. If you would like to make a cash donation to this unique literacy program, you can send your check to: LEAF, PO Box 1132, St. Cloud, MN 56302 or to make a donation by credit card click on the button below.

GET ON THE PAKRAT BUS! PakRat Bus 2

Make a difference! Contribute to PAKRAT!

Recurring Options

PAKRAT - A BRIEF HISTORY

Expansion of PAKRAT to the Summer Break
In 2013, under the leadership of Sara Martini and Beth Lovdahl and with grants from LEAF, the PAKRAT program was expanded to a Summer Roll and Read Program for the Talahi Elementary attendance area. Each week, the Roll & Read school bus made stops throughout the Talahi attendance area, drawing students from virtually every elementary school in District 742! In 2014, the Otto Bremer Foundation grant helped support the Summer Roll & Read PAKRAT program with additional books.

finding books on the PAKRAT bus St. Cloud Rotary Joins the Effort in 2015!
Based on Richard Allington’s research which indicates that up to 85% of the achievement gap can be attributed to the “summer slide” when many students have little access to quality reading materials, the Roll and Read program provides all students access to these quality reading materials on a weekly basis throughout the summer. The pilot program in the Talahi attendance area was a great success and in 2015 with the help of a $15,000 gift from the St. Cloud Rotary Club, an additional $10,000 grant from LEAF and support from District 742, the Summer PAKRAT Read and Roll Program was expanded into ALL District 742 Elementary School attendance areas runs 3 days per week! The Kiwanis Club of St. Cloud was added as a sponsor for the 2016 Summer Roll and Read program! CLICK THE RED BUTTON ABOVE TO VIEW THE SUMMER SCHEDULE AND FIND A PAKRAT BUS STOP NEAR YOU!

2016-17 Update
With help of a $25,000 anonymous donation to the PAKRAT Program in the Fall of 2016 for more quality books, the 2016-17 school year was another great year for student literacy and parent involvement through the PAKRAT Program. During the 2016-17 school year, 3,478 students in preschool through grade 3 read a total of 123,214 books through the PAKRAT Program!

During the summer of 2017, 2,132 children checked out 6,255 books from the PAKRAT Bus over the 7-week summer PAKRAT Roll & Read Program! LEAF thanks the many teachers who support student literacy by working with the PAKRAT school-year program and the District staff that ride the summer PAKRAT Bus to bring quality books to all District 742 students!