New Lynn baseball team supports reading in schools, introduces program

LYNN – As rain begins to replace snow in the weekly weather forecast and chirping birds again provide the morning soundtrack, the sights and sounds of another baseball season are just a few short months away.There will be a new team circling the base paths at Fraser Field this year, and the North Shore Navigators are already beginning to establish themselves in the community before ever throwing a ball.Team officials and sponsorship partners were on hand at the Lynn School Administration Building Tuesday morning, dropping in on a scheduled principals meeting to introduce a new community reading program called Skipper’s Comcast Reading Program.The incentive-based reading program, named for the team’s mascot, Skipper, provides elementary and middle school students the opportunity to read their way to a pair of free Navigators tickets along with other prizes.The program is part of the team’s overall goal to be more than just a baseball team that plays in Lynn, supporting the community and becoming an important part of the city’s economy, culture and identity.”Baseball is what we do in the summertime, but the rest of the year we need to establish ourselves as part of this community,” said Team President Phillip Rosenfield.”It is one thing to be a successful team, but to truly be successful in your life you have to give back to someone else. We have an obligation to provide family entertainment, help the city’s economy and do all of the things that go into being good role models and good citizens.”The reading program, sponsored by Comcast and Chick-fil-A, is designed to improve reading and communication skills in the city’s students, and introduce them to the idea that reading can be fun.The program is split into four “bases,” each of which is two weeks long. At the end of the two-week period, a student submits a log with the number of pages read, number of books completed and total amount of time spent reading. If the log meets the criteria set by the curriculum coordinators, they win a prize. When a student completes all four bases, or “hits a home run,” they win two free tickets to a Navigators game in June, and the opportunity to purchase additional tickets for family members for just $3.The first base prize is a Chick-fil-A gift certificate, the second base prize is a free string of bowling at the Lynnway Sportcenter, and the third base prize is to be determined.While the program does include set deadlines, team officials made it clear that the teachers can be flexible, because the ultimate goal is to make sure kids are reading and improving their communication skills.”Parent involvement in this is crucial,” said reading program coordinator and Lynn native Kathy Hashin. “It is not always easy in a large city like Lynn with such a diverse population to get these kids to read and fill out the logs. As educators, we have to be flexible. If a student doesn’t complete a base, work with them to try and read more for the next base so they can still work towards the tickets. If a student is struggling with reading, it is OK to have them start with a book on tape, or suggest something privately to them that may be a few grade levels lower, just to get them started.”The end of the program is supposed to be May 23, but we are willing to extend it into he first week of June, because this is not about punishment or reward as much as it is about getting kids to read.”Rosenfield, a Swampscott native, moved the college-league team to Lynn from its previous home in Holyoke after the North Shore Spirit closed up shop following the 2007 season.Having already worked to secure Comcast and Chic-fil-A as major sponsors for the program, Rosenfield says he will get additional funding from grants from Major League Baseball’s urban initiative programs.The team president says he has a lot of ideas for promotions that will further make the community familiar with the team leading up to and continuing through the season, and is hoping other local businesse