BOSTON – For December 25 in a row, the Boston University Department of Athletics celebrated its holiday reading program with student-athletes and staff visiting Boston Public Schools.
The annual event, which dates back to 1997, has brought more than 75 Terriers from 18 varsity teams into the community to interact with Boston Public School children. The two-day event, held this year on December 10 and 13, took place at schools in Dorchester, Allston and the South End and marked a return to local classrooms after the virtual of last year’s program.
Working with BU’s Department of Government and Community Affairs, the athletes read to elementary grades and then presented each student with a book purchased by Boston University. In addition to each student receiving a book, each class also received a book donated by BU for the teacher’s permanent collection.
“The Holiday Reading Program is certainly an annual highlight for our department, and it was great to both return to local classrooms in person and to achieve a significant milestone,” said the athletic director of the BU. Drew Marrochello. “We emphasize our roles as mentors and role models for Boston’s youth and our students always come away enjoying that as much as the kids.”
This year, student-athletes visited classrooms in four Boston schools and read to hundreds of children. After making the short trip to Jackson/Mann K-8 School and Horace Mann School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing on December 10, the department expanded across town on December 13 with visits to Gardner Pilot Academy ( Allston), Trotter Elementary (Dorchester) and Blackstone School (South End).
“We are thrilled that for the 25th year of Holiday Reading, we were able to visit students at Boston Public School in person after hosting the program virtually in 2020,” said Cecilia Nardi, Director of Community Relations at the Office of Business Affairs. governmental and community organizations of BU. “We are grateful to the student-athletes for taking the time during this busy season to be in the community and bring joy to local elementary school students. The holiday reading would not be possible without their participation and their enthusiasm!”