A head start on summer reading at Brickett

LYNN – Beatrice Gachohi didn?t have to think very long about why she was so happy to pick out a free summer reading book from a selection set up on a table in the Brickett School foyer.?I just like reading,” said the first grader as she clutched a copy of of Eric Carle?s “Rooster?s Off To See The World.”Gachohi and 350 other Brickett students, including classmates Sydney Antonelli and Mikayla Ferraro, start summer break next week, and Monday?s book handout ensures they keep their reading skills sharp until the start of the next school year.?It gives them a head-start to kick off their summer reading. They love reading and they love being read to,” said first-grade teacher Pam Shurtleff.For the second year in a row, United Way and Lynn-based social service organization, Centerboard, are giving free books to 7,000 Lynn elementary school students. Lynn is one of 20 communities where United Way organizes summer book distributions.United Way Assistant Vice President Sarah Link said the book distribution is aimed at holding the line against a “summer slide-back” in reading skills.?A large body of research shows literacy skills can be lost,” she said.Link said students who do not read during the summer spend the first few weeks of a new school making up lost literacy ground. On the other hand, she said more than two-thirds of summer readers preserve or improve their reading skills.Shurtleff supplements the United Way-Centerboard book distribution by also handing out books to her students. She said some of her children read in Brickett?s library or in the North Common Street library and many read at home with their parents.First-grader Mikayla Cruz spends time reading in Brickett?s “listening center” and she picked out a book titled, “Ten Black Dots,” during Monday?s handout.?I like counting,” she said.Eastern Bank volunteer Dorinne Abkarian grew up reading “Curious George” books and she enjoyed handing out summer reading selections to the Brickett children.?They get the biggest smiles on their faces,” she said.Brickett Principal Eileen Cole said the summer books are not just literacy maintenance tools.?It?s so important when kids leave here for the summer with a book,” she said. “It?s important they know someone cares enough for them to get a chance to own their own book.”Thor Jourgensen can be reached at [email protected].