STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Nearly 140,000 Staten Island students — close to a third of the borough’s population — have taken part in Readers are Leaders since its launch, a milestone Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella celebrated this week at the Great Kills Library.
The program, which challenges fourth grade students across the borough to read five or more books over five weeks, has reached a milestone this year with every public and non-public school on the Island participating.
“140,000 students have participated. Staten Island’s population is about 500,000,” Fossella said to the assembled students and parents. “That’s close to 30%, give or take, of the people on Staten Island.”
He said students have read an estimated 840,000 books.
Every school on the Island participated in the Readers are Leaders initiative, which targets fourth grade as the critical year for independent reading development.Claire Hamlet
“Even if it gets one kid reading. To get him hooked on reading, or her hooked on reading, and then never putting those books down for the rest of their lives we achieve our goal,” Fossella said.
The borough president launched the program 30 years ago as a city councilman. His inspiration came from P.S. 4, his former elementary school, where students who read 25 books could take a shot at dunking their principal into a water tank during the school’s field day celebration.
Fossella said he was inspired to create a borough-wide program to encourage reading. When developing the challenge, Fossella consulted educators who recommended targeting fourth grade.
“I was told by the fourth grade, children really should be able to read independently. They should be able to go to a library. They should be able to pick out books and read on their own. So at that point, we’re gonna say to young kids, young children, it’s up to you now,” Fossella said.
Every school on the island participated in the Readers are Leaders initiative, which targets fourth grade as the critical year for independent reading development.Claire Hamlet
A second memory from P.S. 4 also shaped the program.
In the fifth grade, Fossella said, he received a poor mark on his report card for showing interest in reading.
“I asked my teacher, ‘why’d you give me an unsatisfactory?’ She said, ‘Vito, you can do so much better.’ So it was a signal to me,” Fossella said. “I thought all these years later, putting those things together, that there might be other kids who could read or could reach their potential, but they weren’t reading for whatever reason.”
Fossella said those experiences inspired him to create Readers are Leaders.
Library manager Anna Mason thanked Fossella for his support of Staten Island libraries. She noted the borough president has funded improvements to ensure libraries remain current and modern.
Every school on the island participated in the Readers are Leaders initiative, which targets fourth grade as the critical year for independent reading development.Claire Hamlet
Fossella said the support traces back to early in his career, when he saved the Great Kills Library from closing.
“They were going to close this library,” Fossella said. “We fought to keep it open and fortunately, we were successful and that’s why we’re here today, 30 plus years later.”
Each participating school selects one student as their ‘Super Reader’ at the end of the five-week challenge. And one classroom per school with 100% participation will earn a pizza party. At the event, students received library cards and gift bags containing books and crayons.
Every school on the island participated in the Readers are Leaders initiative, which targets fourth grade as the critical year for independent reading development.Claire Hamlet
When Fossella asked the group about their favorite reads, hands shot up around the room. Titles ranged from “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” “The Baby-sitters Club” and “Dork Diaries” to “Goosebumps” and “The Black Stallion.”
Every school on the island participated in the Readers are Leaders initiative, which targets fourth grade as the critical year for independent reading development.Claire Hamlet
“The more you read, the more you’re able to lead,” Fossella said, explaining the program’s name. “I also think it’s essential to sustaining democracy. The more one understands history and human nature, whatever you want to call it, the more educated they are.”
Despite technological changes over 30 years, including the rise of social media and smartphones, Fossella said the fundamentals remain unchanged.
“Reading is still the foundation of a great education, of a good life,” he said. “Look at the excitement of these kids grabbing a book.”
Every school on the island participated in the Readers are Leaders initiative, which targets fourth grade as the critical year for independent reading development.Claire Hamlet