City National Bank donates books to elementary school

City National Bank, which has eight offices in Nevada, recently adopted Meneley Elementary School into its "Reading is the Way Up" child literacy program, donating 500 books to the school and a $500 check to the school's general fund.

"Any time you can get another book in the hand of student, it's a good thing," said Meneley principal Paula Zona.

According to Paul Stowell, senior vice president and marketing manager of City National Bank, Meneley is the fifth school in Nevada to be adopted into the program. He said the bank began its adoption program in 2003 with an elementary school in Las Vegas.

"What better way to help your community than through education," Stowell said.

The bank's marketing vice president Carolyn Rodriguez said sustained reading is the best way for children to increase their knowledge.

"You can lose material things, your money, your house, your car, but you can never lose the knowledge in your head," Rodriguez said.

Sixth-grader Trent Degiovanni is the school's top reader.

"I love to read. I read everything," said Trent. "I read at least an hour or more a day, and a lot more on weekends."

As bank officials presented a $500 check to Zona and superintendent Carol Lark, Trent mulled over hundreds of new books donated to the school. He found a copy of Mark Twain's "Tom Sawyer" he said he hadn't read yet.

"A lot of people I know don't read enough," said Trent. "I hope these books get more kids to start reading."