“Summer slide” is the tendency for students, especially those from low-income families, to lose some of the achievement gains they made during the previous school year over the summer school break. Since 2018, one of the cornerstone programs of local nonprofit BookSmart Community Advantage (BCA) has been aimed at helping to prevent the Summer Slide by providing books to local students to read over the summer.
In 2023, thanks to grants from Morgan Hill Rotary and AAUW Morgan Hill, along with other individual donations, BCA was able to provide books to 3rd grade classrooms at El Toro Health Science Academy, Barrett Elementary, and PA Walsh Steam Academy, sending home over 200 students with a book to enjoy. Reading just 4 to 6 books over the summer has the potential to prevent a decline in reading achievement scores from the spring to the fall, so even small steps can be very beneficial.
Cinda Meister, co-owner of Booksmart and Emily Shem-Tov, BCA’s Vice President, distributed the books, which were chosen with input from teachers and school administration, to the three schools on June 5th. They were met by enthusiastic kids, librarians, and principals. Cinda Meister explained that, “We worked with the schools to pick out books targeting different reading levels and the teachers were able to match different books to the kids. It’s one of my favorite programs that we run, along with the Gift of Reading in December, and it’s wonderful to have developed strong relationships with the schools and community to be able to make this happen.” “It was great to see how excited the kids were to know that the books were for them! They recognized some of the titles and were excited to get to take them home,” commented Emily Shem-Tov.
Shannon Rafat, Principal of PA Walsh Steam Academy, says, “We want to thank the community and Book Smart for providing every 3rd grader with a book for reading. Giving our students access to books is the first step to decrease the reading summer slide. When the books were presented to one of our classes, students were grinning from ear to ear. Our teachers and staff work hard to give students the tools to expand their worlds through literature. We value every opportunity to increase their at home library especially over the summer.”