Bootstrap promoting March reading contest

LYNN – Reading 15 minutes a day for the month of March will win families a free ticket to a movie at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium and all the popcorn they can eat.”The overriding thing is to encourage people to pay attention to reading with their kids,” said Operation Bootstrap’s Executive Director Edward Tirrell. “It’s not rocket science, sit with your kids for 15 minutes a night and read to them or have them read to you. If you can’t read, pick up a picture book and tell a story.”Tirrell and more than two dozen other agencies banded together in November to launch “Lynn Reads,” a citywide literacy campaign aimed at getting adults as well as children to read. Four months into the project, Tirrell said there are 28 organizations now holding monthly events all aimed at reading but, for the month of March, he wants to pay particular attention to children.Studies have shown that children who are read to are much more likely to succeed in school and stay in school, said Anne Gugino Carrigan, chairman of Bootstrap’s Board of Directors.To encourage families to put in the effort, Lynn Reads is sponsoring a contest. Families are being asked to read together for 15 minutes per night and to log their time on a calendar that can be picked up at Operation Bootstrap, 20 Wheeler St., 2nd floor. Families that succeed in reading a minimum of 300 minutes, 20 days are invited to use their logs for a free ticket to a Dr. Seuss movie in City Hall auditorium on April 2.”It’s a commitment but it’s not asking a lot,” said Carrigan. “They may go even longer than 15 minutes, especially if they get a good book.”Tirrell said they started the reading project with Operation Bootstrap families who have children and the outcome was amazing.”Some of our parents have never even read a book,” he said. “Turn off the TV, put the phone away, you get a little snuggling with the kids and that’s one of the nice things about it, but the real payoff is the reading.”Tirrell said there are roughly 30,000 adults in the city who don’t have a high school diploma or are not English proficient and it hurts not just them but the city as well. Businesses tend not to move to or expand in a community that has an unskilled workforce.”And it all starts with reading,” he said.Carrigan said if even 100 families show up on April 2 she will be thrilled but Tirrell is shooting a little higher.”If we can get 300 families engaged it will be a huge step for us,” he said.For more information on the program call Operation Bootstrap at 781-599-8543.Chris Stevens can be reached at [email protected].