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For Immediate Release
Friday, November 13, 1998
Contact:John Costello

Brockton Elementary Students Receive Books as Part of State's "Spread The Word" Book Distribution Program

Malden - On Friday, November 13, 170 students at the B.B. Russell School in Brockton are receiving a special delivery - over 850 books to take home and keep, as part of the state's Spread the Word book distribution program that gives books to children who have few books at home, from other children who no longer need the books. The books delivered to the students in grades 1-3 at the B. B. Russell School come from a committee of faculty, parents and 52 students of the Chandler School in Duxbury. Each B.B. Russell School student will receive 5 books to take home to keep. Massachusetts Education Commissioner David P. Driscoll said, "Students need to read well, if they are to be successful in school. Children who own books and read them at home are more likely to become proficient readers. The Spread the Word program helps, and I am pleased that it makes a difference." Schools with students designated to receive books are identified based on results of the 1998 Iowa Grade 3 Reading Test. Schools that reported the highest percentage of students reading at low levels were selected to receive books this year. In addition to Brockton, students at schools in Boston, Cambridge, Chelsea, Fall River, Holyoke, Lawrence, Lowell, New Bedford, Springfield and Worcester are receiving books this year. The Spread the Word program was initiated in 1995 by then Lt. Governor Paul Cellucci and his wife, Jan. This year's program, coordinated by the Massachusetts Department of Education, will deliver 60,000 books to 12,000 students in eleven school districts. The coordinators for the Friday morning delivery are: B.B. Russell Principal Lorraine McLaughlin, at 508-580-7208; and Mary Flanagan, Librarian/Media Specialist of the Chandler Elementary School at 781-934-7680. For more information on Spread the Word, visit the Massachusetts Department of Education website at www.doe.mass.edu.



Last Updated: November 13, 1998



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