BRIDGTON — The Stevens Brook Elementary School participates in Read Across America every year during the first week of March. This year the Bridgton-Lake Region Rotary Club helped recruit community volunteers to read to the children as part of a District Rotary Grant to support childhood literacy.

Volunteer readers included School Administrative District 61 Assistant Superintendent Courtney Smith; Bridgton Police Chief Philip Jones; Bridgton Fire Chief Glen Garland; Rear Admiral James D. Cossey, U.S. Navy (ret.); Sergeant Ty Wyman, U.S. Army; Chuck Wilcoxen, co-founder of Team Long Run; Bridgton Public Library’s Community Outreach Coordinator Rachael Sylvester; community members Barbara Jenni and Linda Soutiere; teacher Allison Sands; and Rotarians Patty Burns, Joanne Cohn, Aaron Hagan, Ann Lasman and Dan Lasman, according to a news release from Carol Madsen with the Rotary.

By inviting respected community members to share their love of reading with young readers during Read Across America week, Aliza Wyman, the Stevens Brook school librarian, hopes to foster a lasting culture of reading that will encourage students “to discover new worlds and explore new ideas.”

For more information about the Rotary program and its expansion and the club in general, email LakeRegionRotary@gmail.com.

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