Casey Robbins Of Sacramento Starts 'Text Books For Liberia,' Becomes School Namesake

This past President's Break, high schooler Casey Robbins went to Liberia. The purpose of her trip: to visit the school that was named after her.

Robbins, now a senior at Mira Loma High School in Sacramento, Calif., began collecting used textbooks to send to the West African nation when she was in eighth grade. She began her project, Text Books for Liberia, when she heard a radio program about the nation crippled by 14 years of civil war.

"I had noticed there were some textbooks just lying around in the staff room of my middle school. I asked the vice principal if I could have them and he said, okay if you can figure out how to get them there," Robbins told News10.

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Every year for the past five years, Text Books for Liberia sends a shipping container full of school supplies to Liberia. The project has now donated a total of 14,000 textbooks that otherwise would have been discarded.

During her visit to Liberia, Robbins met with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who welcomed her at the executive mansion to thank her for her contribution, according to a report from the San Juan school district.

Robbins also got to visit her namesake school, which is schedule to open in the fall.

"It's the Casey Robbins International School," she told News10. "It's definitely a cool thing for me. I got to have a picture with the sign for my school."

Robbins graduates this year and will go on to Stanford University next fall. Nevertheless, she plans to continue Text Books for Liberia and hopes to expand it to other schools and countries.

Visit Text Books for Liberia's website to learn more about the project, or contact them to find out how to get involved.

Comments

[cj7874]

02:49 PM on 04/13/2011

That's a great story. I wish more teenagers would do this.

[LearnMe]

12:51 PM on 04/11/2011

"The project has now donated a total of 14,000 textbooks that otherwise would have been discarded."
Good for her! But I must ask, why are we discarding so many books? Part of this silly system where textbooks are updated every year without any real changes in the books content. Good for the McGraw Hills of the world, but costly to our schools. Glad to hear those books can still be put to good use. www.learnmeproject.com

[5pliff5tar]

10:16 PM on 04/07/2011

Simply amazing.

[cadawa]

09:28 PM on 04/07/2011

This is a wonderful story. This is the kind of diplomacy I want my goverment to practice.

[mlaiuppa]

06:53 PM on 04/07/2011

And the children of Liberia will learn all about the U.S.S.R. and that Pluto is the ninth planet.

There's a reason schools discard old textbooks.

The landfill or Liberia?

[tpk]

09:15 PM on 04/07/2011

Having books is important everywhere.

[mlaiuppa]

12:09 AM on 04/08/2011

Yes, it is. It just bothers me the children are getting decade old cast-offs rather then current and relevant books. If we're going to go to the bother of sending books, why not go a little extra and try to get them some new books. Aren't they worth it?

[cadawa]

02:03 PM on 04/08/2011

Then dig down in your pocket and send them some new ones. 'Facts' change all the time (it's a shame our business leaders and government seem unable to adapt to this home turth). Literacy is the name of the game.