Nurturing Teen Reading

摘要

In 2016, Nashville Maplewood High School English teacher Jarred Amato read an article with his class about book deserts, neighborhoods with limited access to books. "We were outraged," he says. "We thought: 'What can we do together to solve this problem?'" Amato and his students organized a book drive and set up kiosks using converted USA Today newsstands in community centers and YMCAs across Nashville to make 15,000 books available to families. But they realized this wasn't enough. Students needed access to high-quality books that would engage them and spark deeper conversations. They had to be culturally relevant to the predominantly African American readership in their community. "Most of our students had never seen themselves reflected in the curriculum," says Amato.