Codman Academy Public Charter School’s classrooms will be getting a lot of new books this year, thanks to a fourteen-year-old girl who is literally footing the bill.

Charlotte Grossman of Newton has been playing soccer for ten years, and considers the sport to be one of her greatest passions. This summer, she decided to use her athleticism to start a fundraising project for Dorchester’s Codman Academy.

Grosssman got the idea for the project after seeing an article in Sports Illustrated for Kids, about a girl who juggled her soccer ball to raise money for a hospital. “Basically it’s keeping the ball up in the air without touching the ground, using only your feet, thighs, and head,” she said.

Grossman learned the basics of soccer juggling two years ago and has a personal record of 300 touches. While she hasn’t broken that record yet this summer, she juggles six days a week and collects pledges based on the number of touches she completes.

As soon as she decided to take on this project, Grossman knew Codman Academy was the perfect place to focus on. “I decided it didn’t make sense to do it for something that didn’t really matter much to me, like a random hospital across the country. I had been going to Codman and volunteering there for a couple years, so I decided to do it for Codman.”

Hoping to raise enough money to be able to provide each lower school classroom with a full library – about ten books per child –
Grossman knows how much the students will be affected by having new books in the classroom because her mother is a reading specialist at the school.

“Currently they have some books in the classroom, but not very many,” said Grossman. “As a child I read a lot, and it’s really important to be able to read and to get excited about reading. And if you only have a couple of choices of books, I feel like you’re not going to be able to find the books that are good for you and that you’ll enjoy.”

She thinks providing the kids with these materials will make them view reading the same way she does – as something that is fun and enjoyable. “If you don’t have opportunities to read, then how are you going to learn to love it?” she said. “So the more books we can provide for them, the better.”

To date, Grossman has raised $6,311, putting her over the halfway mark of her $11,000 goal. She hopes to reach 2,500 touches in total by the end of her fundraising push.

While sometimes things don’t run as smoothly as she would like, she remains confident and refuses to give up. “There’s a couple days when I don’t get as high as I like, but I then just keep going until I get what I want,” she said.

Still, with approximately two weeks left, Grossman is feeling pretty confident about her progress. “I set my goal pretty high, but I think there’s a chance I could reach it,” she said. “I hope so.”

Whether she reaches the $11,000 mark or not, Grossman has already scored a major goal for the Dorchester community.