Hooked On Books

Middle school students created a literacy campaign to reach low- income children; it expanded to a state-wide reading program, Hooked on Books, that recruited student leaders from across New Mexico. The program included a range of literacy supports and incentives for young readers, all designed and run by students.

Students directed reading contests with prizes that reached 32 schools and over 1,000 participants; built bookshelves, filled and refilled with donated children’s books, placed in waiting areas of hospitals and service agencies; created a program for incarcerated fathers to record read-aloud books for their children; and created and led a summer camp for young low- income students to boost engagement and skill in reading.

The summer reading camp, Reading Is Magic, designed and run entirely by students, resulted in an average tested gain of an entire year of reading level for the young campers in only two weeks.