Reading and Sports: Interview with Sarah Girard of New Heights Youth
By Tyler McClure
Photo Credit: Major R. Owens Health & Wellness Community Center
New Heights Youth is a sports-based youth development organization located at the Major Owens Health and Wellness Community Center. The organization focuses on youth’s academic and social success, not just sports. I had the opportunity to speak with their Education Manager, Sarah Girard.
BookPower is a Brooklyn Book Bodega program that partners with traditional educators and nontraditional literacy advocates to distribute and track book ownership with students. The goal is to increase reading motivation and book access for the participants. Sarah monitors and oversees progress with the BookPower program for the 6th and 7th grade boys’ teams.
One of the six steps in early literacy is “print motivation” which is the interest in and enjoyment of books and reading. For print motivation to be achieved, children first need access to books they are interested in. The BookPower Program aims to provide interesting, age-appropriate books for the 6th and 7th grade boys’ teams.
Read more to see what Sarah has to say about the BookPower Program and infusing reading into youth sports culture.
Culture of the New Heights Youth
First and foremost, people love basketball. They love sports. They love working in teams and competing. Whether that's our competitive teams or more of our community programming, there's just a love of sport and wanting to work hard towards something great. So that's really beautiful. I think there's also a culture of wanting to be great in more than just basketball, and that's where my role is.How did New Heights Youth connect with Brooklyn Book Bodega?
In the fall [2023] when we were doing our strategic planning for the year, Adam Berkowitz…our Chief Operating Officer, mentioned that he connected with Seema and the Brooklyn Book Bodega [he] said that it might be a good opportunity because I was really looking to get more books in the classroom. We had like two books and they were really sad looking. So I reached out to Seema and she immediately responded ….I just couldn't believe the work that Brooklyn Book Bodega was doing. At first, I think we just requested 250 books through normal programming. Then Seema told me about the BookPower Program and from there we moved to that and did a project plan.Tell me about the program
We initially thought to focus primarily on our sixth and seventh-grade boys teams. Because I have strong relationships with those coaches, and we wanted to make sure that in giving books and trying to organize all of this, the coaches were on board just because they are so involved in these kids' lives. In terms of the actual books…. the excitement that the kids get from these books has been just absolutely wonderful. Overall, just having books in the space and books to talk about and books to give these kids has been really wonderful and definitely a shift in culture here.Students' attitudes toward reading
I think the youth who like reading, the like reading, so it's been cool to see that solidify. I have noticed comments from kids who know I'm gonna tell them and encourage them to read. So we're just talking about it more because we actually have books in the space and to give them now. I can say definitely, because of this, the kids responded in this way ... .we're talking about reading a lot more, which is a beautiful thing.Interactions and conversations about reading
There have been a lot of cute things that have happened.One of our seventh-grade boys when he was in the first book distribution, he was like, “Can I take one for my little sister too?” He took four for him and one for his sister. And it was cute to see him gravitate towards Spider-Man, Miles Morales - they really love him. That was just so sweet and a little unexpected. Another seventh grader, we were having a conversation about how he was going to be bored over the weekend and I was like, “What do you think I would tell you to do?” And he laughed and was like, “Probably read.” Just to see that that's been infused into our culture a little bit, that the kids are even thinking that way, whether or not they read.What types of books do the boys read?
There's been a lot of talk about Greek mythology and Percy Jackson with the series coming out. I know that in our book distributions, Percy Jackson and Greek mythology are always in there…that's been sort of a hot topic.”Sarah’s reading list
- The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
- Philosophies of Ta Dai Zhen
- Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly
- I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Sarah has made it clear that the conversations and energy surrounding reading enhance the culture of the sports organization and create more interest in reading as a team. Access to a variety of engaging books encourages children to read more, which enhances their reading skills. New Heights Youth emphasizes academics just as much as athletics ensuring that youth gain enrichment in their extracurricular activities. Brooklyn Book Bodega weaves literacy into nontraditional learning spaces such as athletic programs. By distributing books in these settings, Brooklyn Book Bodega fosters a culture of reading that reaches beyond the classroom.
Learn more about Brooklyn Book Bodega and how you can access books for the youth you serve.
Tyler McClure attends St. Francis College and majors in Literature, Writing, & Publishing. She was Brooklyn Book Bodega’s spring 2024 intern.
← CHECK OUT OTHER COMMUNITY CORNER POSTS