Summer reading challenge has students flipping the pages

Do kids get dumber in the summer? Some education researchers believe they do. It’s commonly called “the summer slide” and it’s been a hot topic among teachers and parents alike for almost a century.

The theory goes like this: kids read fewer books and solve fewer math problems over the summer, fall out of practice with these things, and then take a week or two to “warm back up” to the subjects once the school year recommences. Some experts believe our nation’s students lose nearly a year of schooling over the course of their enrollments to these periods of shaking off the rust, and also believe millions of ever-scarce dollars could be saved on remedial education if we could only figure out a way to keep the youth focused on diversions more edifying than the sand and surf while school’s out.

Summer reading programs are one answer to this dilemma.

One of these programs, "The Summer Reading Challenge," established by Assemblyman Ed Ra (R-Elmont), a Franklin Square native who took office last January, is open to any Long Island students who wish to participate. The challenge includes reading for 15 minutes or more a day, for at least 40 days during July and August.

Ra explained the challenge to students in the Elmont Union Free School District during the final months of the 2010-11 school year, and students were given a calendar to check off the days they read. Once students have read for 40 days, they will receive an “Excellence in Reading Certificate” from Ra's office.

Students were also given a list of books as a guide — any books chosen by students will qualify for the challenge — ranging from poetry collections such as Walter Dean Myers' “Harlem: A Poem," to tales of history such as Cheryl Harness' “The Amazing Impossible Erie Canal."

“The challenge will helps kids go into the new school year with a ready mind,” said Nicholas Willock, Ra's communications coordinator. “For [Ra], the most important issue is children and their education. He wants to show children that reading can be fun, and that it's important not to let the free time that comes with summer go to waste.”

Willock added that Ra recently voted for a bill that gave $230 million in aid to local schools. “We've gone to many schools to tell students about the program,” he said, noting several local schools such as Elmont's Dutch Broadway School. "[The challenge] will certainly help students learn how beneficial and gratifying reading can be, especially during the summer when a teacher isn't telling them they have to," he said.

For more information about Ed Ra's "Summer Reading Program," call Willock at (518) 455-5981.

Chris Connolly contributed to this story. Questions about it? JNash@liherald.com or (516) 569-400 ext. 214.