Hundreds Fill The Green … To Read!

Nose deep in books on the Green, roughly 800 young New Haveners were transported to watching a Bronx street performer bust a move, to visiting a second-floor apartment in a Russian mining town, to spending some time with the Cat in the Hat — all as part of an annual ​“read-in” downtown.

That read-in was hosted by the tutoring and youth athletics nonprofit LEAP, or Leadership, Education and Athletics in Partnership, Inc., on Friday morning.

Nearly 800 students of LEAP’s daily summer programming for students ages 7 to 12 years old were read aloud to by dozens of community volunteers at the hour-long event on the Green.

Wearing vibrant orange and blue t‑shirts, campers, counselors, and reading volunteers flooded the Green, extending from the water fountain at the center of the public greenspace up to Elm Street.

Cornell Scott Hill Health Center’s marketing specialist Agape Cogswell and Kara Robinson volunteered Friday for the first time to read to LEAP’s 7- and 8‑year-old boys and girls.

As the duo fished through a sea of books organized by age range, Cogswell landed on ​“A Night Out with Mama” by Quvenzhané Wallis because of its beautiful imagery and diverse representations. Robinson meanwhile chose ​“The Cat in the Hat” by Dr. Seuss to have fun and rhyme with her boys group.

They each agreed that Friday’s event was a chance to ​“nurture a bond with the next generation,” show that volunteering in your community is impactful, and most importantly remind campers that ​“even education can be fun.”

A lineup of state and local leaders included U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, State Sen. Martin Looney, New Haven Public Schools Asst. Supt. Keisha Redd-Hannans, Southern Connecticut State University President Dwayne Smith, Connecticut State Colleges and Universities Chancellor Terrence Cheng, Alders Jeanette Morrison and Anna Festa, and Mayor Justin Elicker.

Speakers reminded the crowd of hundreds of students that reading expands one’s horizons of the world and is critical to their success. ​“Escape to a new world and adventure in books,” Redd-Hannans said.

She thanked the LEAP staffers for helping New Haven youth to avoid falling susceptible to the ​“summer slide.”

Before breaking out into smaller reading groups each paired with a volunteer, LEAP Dixwell Site Coordinator Darcus Henry hyped Friday’s crowd up with energizer chants and dances. Students and volunteers circled up together as Henry first called out ​“You got your L, you got your E, you got your A, you got your P.” The students cheered along, spelling aloud and dancing alongside their counselors.

In one 9- and 10-year-old girls group, volunteer Kica Matos invited the campers to read Matt Lamonthe’s ​“This is How We Do It” aloud to her. Each student read a page from the book that transported them across the globe to tell the stories of how seven kids live around the world in places like Japan, Uganda, Italy, and Peru.

As one student read about the kids homes around the world, Matos asked the group, ​“Who lives in a house and who lives in an apartment?” Friday’s LEAPers shared about living in a second-floor apartment and in a house in New Haven.

Third-grader Guy Carter, 8, said he enjoyed Friday’s trip to the Green because he was able to meet other LEAP students from beyond just the Hill South site he attends daily. After reading a book with his group about planets Friday, he said he enjoyed its humor and was inspired to soon read another book about Spiderman, a favorite superhero of his thanks to the video games he plays about the Marvel hero. His favorite summer trip so far has been going to the beach and public pool to swim.

“I like LEAP because we get to go on a lot of trips and read,” he concluded.

During one reading of ​“The Roots of Rap” by Carole Boston Weatherford, a group of boys showed off their break dancing moves to volunteer Shaynise Rose.

Fifth grader Jules Sullivan, 9, said she enjoyed Friday’s read-in because of her love for reading adventure and comic books. ​“It’s fun to learn how the world is,” she said.

In Sullivan’s group, she read Dr. Seuss’ ​“I Can Read with My Eyes Shut!” which she described as funny and rhythmic. She said those are two book qualities that make a good book to her.

She agreed that field trips have been a favorite summer activity while attending LEAP and is looking forward to a Monday trip to Dairy Queen and the pool. ​“I’m glad I’m here because I get to spend time with my friends and have fun with the counselors. When I’m in the house I’m usually on the iPad. That’s why I love when they take us outside,” she said.

Her advice to her fellow youth when it comes to reading is to try it out because ​“when you read books, you get to learn new words.”