Christopher Peak Photo
Alexis Ramirez of Salsa’s Mexican Restaurant gets a bag of books from school system literacy supervisor Lynn Brantley.
At Orlando’s Barber Shop on Grand Avenue, a hairdresser with a tattooed electrical plug snaking down his arm chatted with a school district employee about his love of books, then agreed to accept a bag of summer reads for the kids who stop in his shop and may otherwise fall behind this summer.
“Not everything is about games and television,” Juan Albino said. “Since I was young, I was told that books are knowledge.”
His barber shop is one of the first businesses to join in the school district’s new summer reading push this year — an effort to make books widely available throughout New Haven.
Last week, 9,540 elementary school students each received a bag packed with several books, and this week, the Reading Department began approaching barbershops and restaurants with stacks of titles, in English and Spanish, to put out for the youngsters who frequent their business.
Lynn Brantley tells Juan Albino that she can bring more books if the kids take any home.
The new initiative is an attempt to prevent the learning loss, known as the “summer slide,” that can set students back several months of reading skills while they’re on break, city school system literacy supervisor Lynn Brantley explained.
Researchers have concluded that, nationally, students from low-income families lose an average of two months of reading skills during summer vacation. That gap compounds each school year: According to a longitudinal study of Baltimore schoolchildren published by three Johns Hopkins sociologists in 2007, disadvantaged students fell three grades behind their more affluent peers by fifth grade. Some experts believe the summer slide explains half of the difference in academic success between rich and poor students.
“We have to hammer home that this does affect children,” Brantley said. “We can’t keep saying it doesn’t.”
In New Haven, according to the mayor’s Reading Commission report, public school children scored 2.2 points above the state average in English language arts. Yet certain groups fell far behind: African-American students performed 14.2 points below the average, Latino students, 11.8; “English Learners,” 17.9 points; and students with disabilities, 26.2. (The district was unable to provide data it collects on the summer slide on Monday.)
Over summer, “the difference of outcomes in kids seems to be around resources,” Brantley noted. “In a home where both parents work and have a Ph.D., then they’re going out to museums. Maybe with the nanny, but still they’re going out there and have the resources to afford summer programs that are geared to [the child’s] liking.” By contrast, she added, “In the lowest levels [of income and educational level], parents still engaged with their child, but they just didn’t have the resources to back that up and create a rich experience for the kids.”
In years past, the New Haven Free Public Library has shouldered the burden of running summer reading programs for younger students, and this year, they’re expanding their offerings to include coding and cooking classes. But Brantley stressed that a trip to the library might be out of reach. “For the kid that’s not engaged, they’re not saying, ‘Gee, I’ll stop by the library,’” she explains. “That’s why we’re putting the book in your hands. It might be the book that finally interests you.”
“It’s just so tough, especially in districts where there’s poverty,” Brantley said. “I’ll try anything at this point. It’s one other way in which we can reach out and engage kids.”
The book bags include titles, like a history of Cesar Chavez, in both English and Spanish.
Passing out approximately 38,160 books directly to kindergartners through fifth graders is part of the district’s attempt to balance the divide in resources. The massive library was purchased from companies like Scholastic, who offered a deal on prices, and 5,000 hardcover books were donated by Read to Grow. (New Haven Reads donated chapter books to older students, who largely coordinate their own summer reading programs.) Ten New Haven Promise students and three other interns helped sort the titles, by grade level, into backpacks last week.
Then, these scholars brainstormed where kids might pick up a copy, if they saw one lying around: courthouses, health centers, laundromats, delis and ice cream stores. Next month, once summer school is underway, Brantley plans to stop by these locations, with a focus on Fair Haven, Newhallville and the Hill, and make her pitch.
Interns brainstorm where kids hang out during long summer days.
Hosting books at stores all around New Haven would be a great first step in becoming a city that reads, Brantley said. And for those who want to take it step further, businesses could offer an incentive to diligent readers, like a free snack or dessert to those who read for 30 minutes or could discuss the last book they read.
“We have to talk about [reading] publicly. We talk about it internally a lot. That’s what we do in the education field,” Brantley said. “Everybody owns these kids’ results.”
At her last canvassing stop on Monday, Brantley convinced Rubiel Rodriguez, a barber at 360 Degrees Salon, to put the books out on a table by the front window, beside a pile of magazines and a Nintendo system.
“So, these are free for the kids, right?” Rodriguez asked.
“Yup, they’re in English and Spanish,” she said. “If they take them home, it’s no problem. You can always contact us if you need more books.”
Brantley laughed as she left Rodriguez with one other suggestion: Maybe tell the kids that the videogames broke today and see if they’ll pick up a book instead.
Business-owners who would like to participate in becoming a city that reads can email Lynn Brantley at lynn.brantley@new-haven.k12.ct.us to arrange a delivery of books.