What’s New with ReadBoston? – January 2023

Happy New Year from ReadBoston! It’s been an exciting time as we, once again, had the opportunity to engage with our community near and far.

Here is a look at what we have been up to over the past couple of months:

We continued our partnership with Amazon’s Black Employees Network (BEN Amazon) offering monthly virtual read-alouds to students at the Holmes Innovation School and the P.A. Shaw Elementary School, both in Dorchester. Members of BEN Amazon read titles focused on diverse characters in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) and discussed the importance of literacy in their lives. Students were visited virtually by guest readers from as near as Boston’s Seaport District and as far away as Luxembourg and Cairo. We look forward to continuing this meaningful project in 2023 and beyond!

We created new opportunities for young people with the ReadBoston StoryCorps program. A generous grant from the Mayor’s Office of Arts & Culture leveraged the expertise of four of our Storymobile storytellers to engage children in the art of creating and presenting their own stories. Over a period of 8 weeks, storytellers worked with children on effective storytelling techniques, culminating in a performance for friends and family. Participating programs included the BCYF Leahy Holloran Afterschool Program in Dorchester, the Gardner Pilot Academy Afterschool Program in Allston, and the Sister Mary Hart Children’s Program in Roxbury. The students in each program were engaged and enthusiastic and some storytellers commented that the program helped to prevent “shyness and stage fright, which is a big win!”

We visited the Gardner Pilot Academy again in December to participate in their Give the Gift of Reading event on December 21. This year’s event was particularly exciting, as it coincided with the ribbon cutting on their beautiful new school library! Visitors and students were inspired to hear from Keynote Speaker Makeda Mays Green, Senior Vice President of Cultural and Consumer Insights at Nickelodeon, who spoke about the importance of believing in yourself and your future.