DALTON, Mass. — Ding, Ding the sound of the school bell goes off, the students rush down the halls, and out the doors embracing the sun and the summer before them. With school out does that mean so is learning? 

 

The Central Berkshire Regional School District made sure that was not the case for their students by holding a Family Literacy Engagement Evening last Wednesday. 

 

Students and their families entered into the Wahconah Regional High School lobby and picked up summer packets that held grade-appropriate books, colored pencils, and tips for parents and caregivers on how to help their children with reading and understanding the material. 

 

"We wanted to make sure that all students preK through 12 had access to books and not just any book but had access to really high quality grade appropriate books," Superintendent of Schools

Leslie Blake-Davis said. 

 

Each packet has five fiction and five nonfiction books for each grade level. 

 

The sets of books are diverse in an effort to be "windows and mirrors" for the district's population of students, Blake-Davis said.

 

"I think that not all students have the opportunity to have brand-new books. I think there's something to be said for having a packet of brand-new books that are appealing and really cover a wide range of interests for our students and we just didn't want any barriers to reading over the summer," she said. 

 

Using approximately $20,000 to $30,000 from the district's Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds, the books were ordered from Scholastic and put together in about 400 packets, 30 for each grade level. 

 

The district tried a few different things to reduce barriers to reading, including reading logs and setting expectations but this is the first time its has provided new books. 

 

This initiative puts learning back into the hands of the students, Assistant Superintendent Michael Henault said. 

 

"We think reading is really important for the imagination and education and the overall experience of everyday life," parent Jessica Wilkinson said. 

 

Students excitedly and proudly held their packets of books.

 

"The smiles, and the enthusiasm, and the motivation that we're seeing when they're walking out with their books. It means everything. That's probably what we want to see," Blake-Davis said. 

 

"Create some ownership of the books and create ownership of their own learning over the summer has potential to be pretty powerful," Henault said.

 

The initiative is providing an opportunity for students that they otherwise would not have, Blake-Davis said. It also connects families to lifelong readers, Henault added.

 

The district is already discussing ways it can sustain the program in the future.