A program that puts free books in the hands of young students and their teachers recently arrived in Holyoke - complete with a celebration featuring the governor.
Governor Maura Healey was among state and local leaders on hand to congratulate over a hundred students and staff at the H.B. Lawrence Elementary School gymnasium Friday.
The school of some 300 kids was celebrating the United States of Readers Program coming to Holyoke Public Schools, making it the fifth district in the Commonwealth to take part in the initiative facilitated by book publisher and distributor Scholastic.
Judy Newman, Scholastic’s Chief Impact Officer, tells WAMC the program dates back to 2021 and gives students free, direct access to books of their choosing – two free titles five times a year, plus 25 free books for teachers to build their own libraries.
Newman says giving kids the power to pick their own books can often lead to positive consequences.
“We learned through the course of our pilot - and of course, frankly, we are experts at Scholastic - and we saw that the kids developed their choosing muscles: they chose longer books as the year went on, they individuated - they chose a lot of different things that interest them, and they grew their reading proficiency, and almost as important, their self-confidence and their self-efficacy as a reader,” she said.
Nationally, reading and math scores for fourth- and eighth-graders are still below pre-pandemic numbers. And locally, Holyoke Public Schools had improving youth literacy and reading in its turnaround plan well before news of its pending exit from receivership.
2024 MCAS scores show Holyoke (470) is about 23 points below the state's average in English Language Arts (493), barely considered "Partially Meeting Expectations."
Scholastic has partnered with the state to launch its program in Massachusetts – something Healey says is part of a broader investment in the state’s youth.
“One of the things that I've done as governor is make literacy a priority,” the governor told reporters. “We launched a program around literacy, we're in districts all over the state with the kind of resources and instruction that kids need to learn how to read. We're number one in education in the country - we want our kids to be the best readers in the country. If you can read, you can do anything.”
The United States of Readers program also operates in Framingham, Quincy, Revere and the Southern Berkshires.
Recent funding comes, in-part, from the FY25 budget. At least $750,000 was allotted for the program, which looks to provide 10,000 books to students from Pre-K-to-eighth grade at what are known as Title I schools – schools with high numbers of students from low-income families.
“… in my own case - part of the Scholastic Reading [programs] in the Springfield Public Schools - as a child, we used to call it the ‘Weekly Reader,’ and it was a big deal,” said Massachusetts Congressman Richard Neal of the 1st district. “I love Holyoke, Massachusetts. It's because of aspiring people who have never had it easy - this city tells a great story about America: opportunity, ambition and aspiration, and that's what we are witnessing here this morning. Stick with reading. Stick with phonics. Holyoke is going to do great.”
Other officials who spoke included Mayor Joshua Garcia, Receiver/Superintendent Anthony Soto, Holyoke State Representative Patricia Duffy and children’s book author Jerry Pallotta.
Lawrence Elementary also isn’t the only school getting in on the program – other schools include:
- E.N. White School
- Dr. Marcella Kelly School
- Lt. Elmer J. McMahon Elementary School
- Maurice A Donahue Elementary School
- Morgan Community School
