Visiting authors join celebration, read to kids at Girls Inc. program

LYNN – Representatives of the United Way and Bostnet gathered at Girls Inc. on Thursday to celebrate the culmination of the Summer Learning Collaborative, where bestselling authors Mark Peter Hughes and Gregory Mone read aloud to the girls from their novels, Lemonade Mouth and Fish.Mone distributed copies of Fish, a treasure-hunting adventure story, to the 9- and 10-year-old girls, and signed them with the message, “Keep reading!” Mone said he believed strongly in the cause of literacy programs like United Way?s summer literacy program, which aims to achieve reading proficiency by third grade for children in Lawrence, Lynn, Boston, Worcester, Holyoke and Springfield.?When I was young my parents would have me read every day,” said Mone. “I was taught that reading is exercise for the brain and you need to do it or your brain turns to mush.”Leaders of Girls Inc. took representatives from United Way and Bostnet on a tour into their “classrooms” where girls ages 5 through 8 listened to teachers read about sea turtles and work on an activity. In one classroom, the representatives read a story to an individual girl.?Girls Inc. has been the leader of grabbing on and saying ?How can we use the summer in the best way??” said Maryellen Coffey of Bostnet, a nonprofit celebrating 25 years of working to make quality “out-of-school” programs. Coffey said programs like Girls Inc. and summer camps where children spend 40 hours a week are an “enormous opportunity ? to infuse learning everywhere.”The Summer Learning Collaborative reported last year that 83 percent of the children who participated in the program avoided the typical summer learning loss, 76 percent of the children said they enjoyed reading more and 91 percent of staff saw a visible improvement in the children?s vocabulary skills.?We?re seeing that this model works well and it?s cost effective,” said Peg Sprague, Senior Vice President for Community Impact at United Way Massachusetts Bay and the Merrimack Valley.?I like that they give us options for summer reading,” said Aaliyah Alleyne, 9. “My school gives us three choices, but Girls Inc. gives us six.” Alleyne said she made a 3D poster of a bean for a project after reading “From Seed To Plant,” a story about how a seed grows.Ten-year-old Tanasia Hill said her favorite part about books is “the events the characters get into, like when they get into trouble or fall in love.” She said this is her first year with Girls Inc., and it?s “mega awesome.”Girls Inc. Literacy Coordinator Linda Hall said, “We try to make learning fun here. It?s not school. The bottom line is, we have a literary crisis in Lynn.” Hall said growing up in a bilingual family can make it more difficult to become a proficient reader.Elementary School Program Director Maria Manzueta, who runs the program for girls ages 5 through 13, said it costs $110 a week for one child to be in the summer program, but state subsidization and agencies like HAWC and homeless living programs have made it available for some girls to be in the program.Kait Taylor can be reached at [email protected].