At North DeSoto Lower Elementary, students are discovering that leadership and literacy go hand in hand—and that sometimes the most exciting prize of all isn’t candy or toys, but a good book.
Principal Russell Tabor remembers the spark of the idea clearly. “I was up here one summer three years ago, brainstorming ways to get kids more excited about reading,” he said. “I thought—there are vending machines for everything. I wonder if there’s one for books?” A quick Google search later, the idea for the school’s “book vending machine” was born.
The Griffin red and blue book machine doesn’t take dollar bills. Instead, it accepts something far more valuable—leadership tokens. At first, students earned tokens for showing strong character. Today, those same tokens are tied directly to Leader in Me, the school’s whole-child framework that emphasizes character, leadership, and literacy. Students who demonstrate habits like being proactive or showing responsibility can be nominated by a teacher, earn a token, make a selection from the vending machine, and walk away with a brand-new book to keep.
The excitement is contagious. “We want our kids to know that readers are leaders,” said counselor Stephanie Arinder. “Our teachers are very intentional about identifying leadership skills in students—not just based on reading data or test scores, but by building them up from the inside out.”
It’s not just teachers who get to hand out tokens. Deputy Brett Randolph, the school’s resource officer, has become a favorite part of the process. Each month, he walks into classrooms to announce nominations and escorts students to the vending machine to select a book. Mrs. Arinder adds, “Finding opportunities for other grown-ups outside of just teachers to have positive interactions with kids, especially when we talk about leadership and literacy, is huge for the culture of our school.”
Deputy Randolph knows that strong positive role models influence the leadership traits that Leader in Me strives to instill in students. “When kids see this uniform, they recognize it as leadership,” he said. “The tokens incentivize them to make good choices—and the reward is a book they’re proud to own.”
The initiative has sparked more than joy; it’s also moving the needle in academics and behavior. In recent years, the school has seen steady improvement in reading growth and assessments. Tabor credits the progress to their integrated approach. “Behind every project we do, we ask why. For us, the why is clear—leadership and literacy together help us build character, develop leaders, and improve reading, which are three of our biggest goals as a school.”
For teachers, the program is about more than incentives—it’s about foundations. “Literacy develops students in every area,” said Tinikki Edwards-Hall. “By giving them an exciting reason to read, we’re laying the groundwork for lifelong learning.” First grade teacher Stefanie Register agreed, adding, “When we celebrate students who are proactive or show leadership habits, it encourages others to do the same. That creates a love of learning that will stay with them all the way to graduation.”
As for the future of the Leader in Me Program and the book machine incentive at North DeSoto Lower Elementary, leaders hope that with growth, not only adults in the building are identifying those leadership skills in students, but students are recognizing the power of peer leadership.
“As we go forward when we do our Leaders of the Month, students are also going to have the opportunity to see those leadership traits in their peers and nominate them for a leadership token,” said Counselor, Stephanie Arinder.
What started as a simple idea to spark a love of reading has grown into a cornerstone of the school’s culture. At North DeSoto Lower Elementary, the message is clear: every student has leadership in them, every student has the potential to love reading—and when you put the two together, the results are powerful.