To help boys, school creates the poster men for reading

Last September, if you had asked Nehemiah Wimbish what he thought of reading, chances are he would have rated it down there with doing math and eating tomatoes. Yuck, yuck, and nasty.

So how could it be that the same boy and several sixth-grade pals were making the rounds at their Glassboro middle school last week, touting the joys of the written word to other boys like themselves?

"We got inspired by seeing people read," Nehemiah, 11, told one fourth-grade class. "We want to encourage young men like y'all to do well."

Why the sea change? The answer was in three words printed on their T-shirts:

Real Men Read.

That's the name of a campaign started last school year at Glassboro's Thomas E. Bowe School to locally address a national concern - boys falling behind academically, particularly in literacy.

Basic-skills teacher Marilu Bicknell said she had been inspired after attending a workshop about boys and books last fall.

"I came back, and I said, 'Oh, my God, I have an idea!' " she said.

It went like this. In a nod to the American Library Association's posters of celebrities and their favorite reads, Bicknell started approaching local heroes - teachers, district employees, police officers, community and government leaders, all men the students see around school and town - and having them pose for posters with a book or magazine of their choice.

Next, teachers were asked to identify their more reluctant readers.

About 40 boys were invited to a breakfast with some of the men in the posters, who talked to them about books and reading.

Over the year, the number of boys taking part in Real Men Read nearly doubled by the celebratory end-of-term pizza party. Businesses and civic groups have offered support, and the boys got gift vouchers for books and recognition from local officials. A tailgate party is being discussed. And the posters keep coming.

"It's catching on like wildfire," said principal Kriston Matthews, who shares his poster with Newsweek magazine and an article on the male achievement gap, a topic long of concern to him. "People want to come in and get their pictures taken."

Granted, the Glassboro poster guys may not have the star power of the Jonas Brothers, Cole Hamels, Britney Spears, or Shaquille O'Neal - to name a few of the library association's celebrities.

But that's not to say the Bowe posters don't grab one's attention. Reading's cool factor definitely shot up after Brian Douthitt, who does building maintenance for the district, posed with his very hot Harley-Davidson Heritage Softail and a touring handbook for bikers. Among the kids, who knew?

"He's become a legend because of that poster," Matthews said.

Douthitt takes it in stride.

"If it could get one kid to read, that's enough," he said.

And lots of the other posters get their share of attention. Mark Silverstein, the district's new superintendent, won student kudos for his choice of a book about the world-champion Phillies and for being a 33-year season-ticket holder.

Mayor Leo McCabe has a poster, as does Police Chief Alex Fanfarillo and some of his officers. George H. Johnson Jr., a Glassboro alumnus and Rutgers University football player, is pictured with a book about dogs. And students have been known to note what their teachers like to read according to their poster.

Of course, girls look at the posters, too. Bicknell said she had gotten "What about us?" questions from some female students. She said she was considering a program for them, possibly one about careers. But Bicknell, Matthews, and others at Bowe had seen particular challenges getting boys to read.

"Every year, you encounter - and they're usually boys - students who are very reluctant readers," sixth-grade teacher Andrea LoCastro said.

While she has seen more interest in reading among the boys who took part in Real Men Read last year, LoCastro will track performance this year to see if the program is improving measures such as test scores and grades.

The Real Men boys say it has made a difference.

"I used to get Cs. Now I'm starting to get Bs," said Noah Warner, 12, sporting a Real Men Read T-shirt. He used to find reading boring, he said, but now enjoys books about sports and animals.

Brandon Roland, 11, recommended the youth novel Superfudge, by Judy Blume. A year ago, he might not have even known about it.

"I actually hated reading," he said. Then his teacher talked him into joining the program.

"I never knew reading could be so fun," he said.

Michael Turner, 11, said the Real Men Read posters helped him recognize the variety of books out there. He said he was looking forward to more Real Men Read parties this year, but he also has his own ambitions.

In the short term, he wants to read books even bigger than the Harry Potter he's working on. In the long run, he said, "I want to be a teacher."

Real men teach, too.