School District Puts Pepsi Ahead of Books

School officials at Joy Elementary School in Rome, NY have decided to turn away 2,000 new books valued at $30,000 from Coca-Cola because the district has a contract with competing Pepsi.

Too bad all those school kids lost out to a few Pepsi vending machines.

School librarian Claudia Wetherby entered the contest sponsored by Coca-Cola at her local Wal-Mart and was awarded the grand prize in March. But her principal, Robert Evangelist, said the district's lawyer advised against accepting the prize because "it wouldn't be in the best interest of the district."

Although initially disappointed, Wetherby immediately contacted Coca-Cola with a counterproposal: Would it consider transferring the prize to her brother's school? The soda giant agreed, and books have been streaming into the Brownsville (WA) Elementary School, where Wetherby's brother, Philip, is a sixth-grade teacher. The school has received boxes of quality fiction, nonfiction, and reference books spanning all elementary grade levels, says Brownsville librarian Wendy Kraft. Coke officials also handed Kraft a $4,300 check for shelving. Kraft, who's been busy processing the books since last summer, says "I can finally discard my 1969 state books."

Coca-Cola often contributes to schools, no strings attached, and the gift to Brownsville is one of 10 such packages to schools each year.

Kraft has shared the wealth, donating some of the books to another local school, Seabeck Elementary, and a sister school in Kenya, Africa.