Summer Reading Event Held at Covert Avenue Elementary School in Elmont

New York State Senator Jack Martins joined Optimum Community, Madison Square Garden, and Knicks alumnus John Starks for a Read to Achieve event at Covert Avenue Elementary School in Elmont, NY. Nearly 40 students from the Elmont School district and Gateway Youth Outreach programs attended the event. Mr. Starks and Senator Martins each addressed the children with words of encouragement, with an emphasis on the importance of summer literacy. Children were then called up to read the book “Salt in His Shoes” aloud with Starks and the Senator. After completing the book, the children took an interactive quiz about the book, and the event concluded with Mr. Starks signing autographs and taking pictures with the children and even some adults.

“The research is clear that children who don’t read during the summer can lose up to three months of reading progress and that loss has a cumulative, long-term effect,” said Senator Martins. “For this reason, it’s important to find novel ways to get books into the hands of children during the summer break. The innovative program today from Optimum Community, the Knicks and Madison Square Garden does just that.”