LEAP’s Read-In on the Green connects kids and community leaders

NEW HAVEN, Conn. 9WTNH) — Friday was LEAP’s annual Read-In on the Green , celebrating reading and the joy it brings the community and empowering kids through literacy and education.

“It’s something special to be read to and to try to connect with a book,” LEAP staff member Melissa Liriano said. “I think it’s a very special feeling and that’s what we try to invoke with this.”

“It’s our way of celebrating reading and passing it on from generation to generation,” LEAP’s executive director Henry Fernandez said.

On Friday morning, about 800 kids between the ages of 7 and 12 got together to read books with volunteers from the community.

“The kids love it, the volunteers love it,” Fernandez said. “Part of what we’re trying to do is to make sure that kids understand reading is fun all summer long.”

LEAP, which stands for Leadership, Education and Athletics in Partnership, has been connecting educators and students in the Elm City for more than 30 years.

“We really just try to get everyone from the community, anyone who’s connected to LEAP or has heard about LEAP, we try to get them here to volunteer to read to the kids,” Liriano said.

LEAP has two community centers and seven neighborhood-based sites around New Haven, aiming to address the city’s historic divestment of young people of color.

“We try to have the kids feel reflected from the authors and the books, or the themes or the tones in the books to relate to whatever the kids might be going through, so we have books for each age group,” Liriano said.

“It can be a little nerve-wracking at any age to try to learn to read or to read so that you can learn a new skill like science or math, and so reading is essential to all those things,” Fernandez said.

Organizers say events like the Read-In are a great way to connect the community while accomplishing the goal of keeping reading skills sharp during the summer months.

“If kids read during the summer, that really boosts their literacy year-round, so when they re-enter school in September, they’re ready to go,” Fernandez said.

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