College summer book program benefits local children in need of reading boost

by Gi Smith

Marietta, Ohio (05/25/2021) — As local children count down the final days of classes, Marietta College's Education Department is busy creating and delivering Summer Reading Adventure Packs to partner elementary schools to help get books and reading activities into the hands of certain students before they leave for summer break.

The 300 packs will be given to children whose principals and teachers think may need extra literacy support.

"Marietta College is excited to support surrounding partnership schools with literature and activities within our summer book packs," said Dr. Amanda Rider, Assistant Professor of Education. "The packs are intended to further engage students in literature over the summer, so they are better prepared for next fall."

The backpack program was made possible with support from the Marietta Morning Rotary Club, Marietta Community Foundation and the Martha Jennings Holden Foundation. Typically, Marietta College's Education Department would be gearing up for in-person S.T.R.E.A.M (Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Art, Math) Camp, which is open to all children entering kindergarten through sixth grade the following Fall. The COVID-19 pandemic caused the camp's cancellation this and last summer, which is why the Education Department transitioned to the backpack program. Last summer, the program served 160 children.

Program Director and Assistant Professor of Education, Dr. Raven Cromwell, said Marietta College Education majors put together the backpacks, which are filled with high-interest fiction and nonfiction books, activities and supplies.

Cromwell has provided sites that serve as good resources for books that may be of interest to children in various age groups:

International Literacy Association (ILA) Children's and Young Adults' Book Awards
https://www.literacyworldwide.org/about-us/awards-grants/ila-children's-and-young-adults'-book-awards

ILA & Children's Book Council Children's Choices 2020
https://literacyworldwide.org/get-resources/reading-lists/childrens-choices-reading-list

Printz Award
http://www.ala.org/yalsa/printz
(Honors books written for teens)

Outstanding International Books by The United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBY)
Introduce wonderful international books to children in the United States
https://www.usbby.org/outstanding-international-books-list.html

"Other resources include Newbery, Giesel (early readers), Siebert (NF), Coretta Scot King (African American), Pura Belpre (Latino/Latina), Stonewall Book Award (LGBTQIA+), and Schneider Family Book Award (disability)," Cromwell says.

For more information about the Summer Reading Adventure Packs, visit https://www.mcstreamcamp.com/reading-adventure-packs.

Located in Marietta, Ohio, at the confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio rivers, Marietta College is a four-year liberal arts college. Tracing its roots to the Muskingum Academy back in 1797, the College was officially chartered in 1835. Today Marietta College serves a body of 1,200 full-time students. The College offers more than 50 majors and is consistently ranked as one of the top regional comprehensive colleges by U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review, as well as one of the nation's best by Forbes.com. Marietta was selected seventh in the nation according to the Brookings Institution's rankings of colleges by their highest value added, regardless of major. Marietta College has also been named a Great College to Work For three consecutive years (2018-2020).

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Marietta College

College summer book program benefits local children in need of reading boost

Marietta College

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