Classmates Assemble New Library In Memory Of Boy Killed By Cab On UWS
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Building a library is no easy task, but a group of Upper West Side students plan to do just that – for free.
As CBS 2's Vanessa Murdock reported Thursday, students from the Calhoun School, 433 West End Ave., are setting an example for all.
One 8-year-old boy named Paul said the goal was "to help out other kids who aren't as fortunate as we are.
The students were donating books in a day of service dedicated to their classmate, Cooper Stock. He was killed by a taxi in January.
'We decided to come up with some sort of holiday that has to do with him called 'Cooper's Troopers,'" said a 9-year-old boy named Jackson.
Two hundred of Cooper's Troopers in grades 2 through 4 will carry books down the street and hand-deliver them to a shelter for women and children.
The students want to make it so "people in shelters can read books without really paying that much," said an 8-year-old girl named Zoe.
The mission of Cooper's Troopers is to stock the new library full with 500 new books. They started collecting donations Thursday at Barnes & Noble.
"Cooper loved learning, and he loved giving back to people, so it seems like a perfect fit," said Louise Litt, parents' association vice president at the school.
It also provided an opportunity for Cooper's classmates to reflect, "to remind everybody of a good friend we had in our school," Jackson said.
Calhoun lower school director Alison Rothschild said the school also wants the students to look forward to a bright future of their own.
"I'm hopeful that this experience will be a way for them to sort of end their year positively," Rothschild said.
The students will deliver the books on June 4. They will also record songs and books for a listening center, and make artwork for the library walls.
Cooper lost his life when a cab hit him as walked hand in hand with his father on the Upper West Side back in January.
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