Chester County Commissioners Terence Farrell (right), Kathi Cozzone (second right) and Michelle Kichline (center) are pictured with students from the Coatesville Summer Reading Program, who took time from rehearsals for their end of summer talent show and recognition ceremony to talk with the Commissioners. (Malachi Ward, seated left, and Oddell Canon, Jr., Sircha Hanna and Nariye March looking on.)
Chester County Commissioners recently visited students, administrators and board members of the Coatesville Summer Reading Program to present a check for $3,500. The donation from the County was used to help fund instructor support, education materials and field trip costs for the program, held from June 22nd to August 13th at Scott Middle School.
More than 130 children from kindergarten to fifth grade participated in the summer reading program, organized by two Coatesville non-profits, Backing Our Young Sons (BOYS), founded by the organization’s president, Francis Washington, and Giving Girls Guidance (G3), in partnership with the Coatesville Public Library. Now in its third year, the program grew out of the BOYS and G3 mentoring program, and is fully endorsed by the Coatesville Area School District.
John Robinson Jr., treasurer of BOYS and G3, and volunteer administrator for the Summer Reading Program applauded the grant.
“The funding from the County Commissioners was a great investment in the future success of the young people who have been a part of the program,” he said. “This year’s Summer Reading Program was the largest ever, and through our partnership with the Coatesville Library and the support of the school district superintendent Dr. (Cathy) Taschner, we were able to focus on helping the children fulfill literacy requirements required by the school district.”
