Athena Program Creates Dynamic Learning Environment for Young Mothers

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In mid-June, Reader to Reader hosted a group of mothers from the Care Center for the Athena program, a week-long program aimed at imparting financial and nutritional knowledge, and empowering the mothers to realize that they have their own powerful stories within them through writing and recording spoken word poetry.

This year marked the ninth year of the Athena program.

Everyday, Chef Bill Collins cooked us breakfast and lunch, showing the mothers sample menus and illustrating the health and cost benefits of home-cooked meals as opposed to fast food options. Chef Bill also demonstrated cooking skills, such as carving a chicken and creating simple syrup.

One of our favorite activities during the week was helping the mothers make picture books for their children. They filled their books with pictures of their children and quotes, and wrote heartfelt messages to read to their children. As they worked, they relayed stories about their experiences with pregnancy and childbirth, including all the joys and pains of motherhood. The moms also showed off pictures of their babies and shared funny anecdotes.

Early on in the week, we also led a spoken word poetry workshop with all of the moms where they wrote poems that spoke to their experiences as mothers and with their families. On Tuesday, we went to record the poems that the moms wrote at Northfire Recording Studio in Amherst. While there, the studio’s power went out, interrupting our session, but fortunately, we were able to go back on Wednesday to finish all of the recordings. On the final day of the Athena Program, we went to the Care Center and played the finished recordings of the mothers’ poems for them and their classmates, to celebrate the great work they did this week, all while drinking delicious smoothies.

Another one of the highlights was a financial literacy workshop that was presented by Florence Bank. The mothers learned about budgeting, credit-ratings, and how to manage a debit and credit card.

Throughout the week the mothers received free books and clothes for themselves and their children.

It was a busy week filled with lots of different activities, and perhaps most importantly, lots of delicious food—we had a lot of fun, and can’t wait to create more memories next year!

Athena Program Reaches Teen Moms

 

Summer truly feels like it's begun at Reader to Reader when we have our annual Athena Interactive Literacy Program, which connects teen mothers from Holyoke's Care Center with community partners to foster empowerment in different areas of their lives. During the year moms work towards their GED at the Care Center, an alternative education program which seeks to "help them grasp how powerful they are, give them the tools to learn and provide them with an exciting and engaging learning environment." These sentiments echo Reader to Reader's own attitudes in our global literacy efforts, and now in its seventh year, Athena is a weeklong program that builds skills to help these young families thrive and learn.

Nutritional literacy is a major component of Athena. Local chef Bill Collins kicks off mornings with breakfast and wraps up afternoons with lunch. Each meal is accompanied with discussions centered around grocery shopping on a budget, balancing the demands of preparing a meal with young children around, simple and quick but nutritious meals, and various cooking tips, tricks, and stories. The moms even get to try their hand at food prep and cooking throughout the week!

Between meals, a range of activities give the moms a chance to express their voices. One of our college interns led a spoken word poetry workshop and later in the week, we took a trip to Northfire Recording Studio for a recording session. This year's selection of poetry include themes of family, love, and motherhood. 

The week's other project, board book making, was filled with laughter, casual discussions, crafting fun, and sweetest of all, sharing baby and toddler photos.

In addition to exploring their creativity, the moms explored financial literacy with Florence Bank and children's book and writing for different audiences with Phantom Tollbooth author Norton Juster. 

It was a week of learning for all involved: the moms themselves, Reader to Reader staff and interns, and the community partners who so generously shared their time and knowledge with us. Fittingly, we closed the week out with a celebration at the Care Center which allowed other Center students and staff a glimpse of what we were up to all week. 

We are so grateful to have been able to spend Athena week with participating moms and we will continue to cheer them on in their aspirations!

Recording Spoken Word Poetry at Northfire Recording Studio

Teen mothers from Holyoke, MA, went to Northfire Studio to record their spoken word poetry on day 2 of our Athena Program.

The Athena Program works with teen mothers from Holyoke, MA, and combines personal literacy and family literacy with healthy eating and cooking.

The Athena Program is sponsored by Florence Bank and Northfire Recording Studio.

Athena Program Kicks Off 6th Year!

Day 1 of our 6th annual Athena Interactive Literacy Program kicked off with Chef Bill Collins demonstrating how to make homemade lemonade, and the versatility of the egg.

The Athena Program works with teen mothers from Holyoke, MA, and combines personal literacy and family literacy with healthy eating and cooking.

The Athena Program is sponsored by Florence Bank.

Video Highlights of the 2014 Athena Interactive Literacy Program

Reader to Reader's Athena Interactive Literacy Program works with teen mothers from Holyoke, MA, and combines personal literacy and family literacy with healthy eating and cooking.

A special thank you to Chef Bill Collins and Northfire Recording Studio for their donated services.

The Athena Program is made possible thanks to Florence Savings Bank,  the F.I.S.H. Foundation, Inc., PeoplesBank, and the AEC Trust.

Celebrating Athena!

Our final day of this year’s Athena Program featured a presentation of the poetry the teen mothers wrote and recorded.

Chef Bill showed how to make smoothies. Did you know you can sneak kale into them and no one will notice?

The Athena Program works with teen mothers from Holyoke, MA, and combines personal literacy and family literacy with healthy eating and cooking.

A special thank you to Chef Bill Collins for all his wonderful teaching and hard work.

The Athena Program is made possible thanks to Florence Savings Bank, PeoplesBank, and the AEC Trust.

Lot and lots of books!

Central to Reader to Reader’s Athena Program is making sure that the teen mothers bring home lots of books in order to create a household that reads.

All the participants got books each day to read to their children, and books to for their own enjoyment too.

The Athena Program works with teen mothers from Holyoke, MA, and combines personal literacy and family literacy with healthy eating and cooking.

The Athena Program is made possible thanks to Florence Savings Bank, PeoplesBank, the F.I.S.H. Foundation, Inc., and the AEC Trust.

Learning Financial Literacy

Day 4 of the Athena Program included a great financial literacy workshop put on by Florence Savings Bank. The workshop focused on how to manage a personal budget.

Chef Bill Collins taught the teen mothers how to make omelets and fried rice.

The Athena Program works with teen mothers from Holyoke, MA, and combines personal literacy and family literacy with healthy eating and cooking.

The Athena Program is made possible thanks to Florence Savings Bank, PeoplesBank, and the AEC Trust.

Athena Program Explores Museum Day

Day 3 of Reader to Reader’s Athena Program included visits to the Mead Art Museum and the Beneski Museum of Natural History

Chef Bill Collins taught the teen mothers the quickest way to slice a roast chicken!

The Athena Program works with teen mothers from Holyoke, MA, and combines personal literacy and family literacy with healthy eating and cooking.

The Athena Program is made possible thanks to Florence Savings Bank, PeoplesBank, and the AEC Trust.

Recording Spoken Word Poetry at Northfire Studios

Teen mothers from Holyoke, MA, went to Northfire Studios on day 2 of Reader to Reader’s  Athena Program.

The Athena Program works with teen mothers from Holyoke, MA, and combines personal literacy and family literacy with healthy eating and cooking.

A big thank you to Angelo, Jay and everyone at Northfire for donating their time to make this such a great learning experience.

The Athena Program is made possible thanks to Florence Savings Bank, PeoplesBank, and the AEC Trust.

Athena Program Kicks Off 5th Year!

Day 1 of our annual Athena Interactive Literacy Program kicked off with Chef Bill Collins demonstrating the versatility of the egg.

The Athena Program works with teen mothers from Holyoke, MA, and combines personal literacy and family literacy with healthy eating and cooking.

This year marks the 5^th year of Reader to Reader’s Athena Program, which is conducted in partnership with The Care Center.

Also on the agenda was poetry writing. Reader to Reader staff member Ophelia Hu led the group, who are preparing spoken-word poems that will be recorded at Northfire Studios.

Support for the Athena program is made possible by Florence Savings Bank, PeoplesBank, and the AEC Trust.

Norton Juster Visits Athena Program

Famous children’s author, Norton Juster, who wrote the children’s classic The Phantom Tollbooth, joined the Athena Program to talk about writing children’s books and the importance of reading to your children.

The week-long Athena Program works with teen mothers from Holyoke, Massachusetts and takes place on the campus of Amherst College.

The program combines poetry, family literacy, and healthy eating and cooking.

In addition to speaking to the young women, Norton autographed copies of his charming book, The Hello Goodbye Window.

The Athena Interactive Literacy Program is part of Reader to Reader’s DiscoverBooks Program, which receives generous support from Mary Ann Cofrin and the AEC Trust, the Irene E. & George A. Davis Foundation, and PeoplesBank.

Athena Program Heads Into The Recording Studio

Reader to Reader’s Athena Interactive Literacy Program headed into the recording studio as the teen mothers in the summer program recorded their spoken word poetry.

The week-long Athena Program works with teen mothers from Holyoke, Massachusetts and takes place on the campus of Amherst College.

The program combines poetry, family literacy, and healthy eating and cooking.

Each of the participants took turns recording their poems, and some even incorporated beat-boxing and piano tracks in their work.

The Athena Interactive Literacy Program is part of Reader to Reader’s DiscoverBooks Program, which receives generous support from Mary Ann Cofrin and the AEC Trust, the Irene E. & George A. Davis Foundation, and PeoplesBank.

A very special thank you to Northfire Recording Studio for the donation of the recording time.

Athena Program Combines Literacy With Cooking

Reader to Reader’s Athena Interactive Literacy Program launched its week-long workshop that combines poetry, family literacy, and healthy eating and cooking.

The Athena Program works with teen mothers from Holyoke, Massachusetts and takes place on the campus of Amherst College.

Chef Bill Collins conducts the healthy eating and cooking lessons and he’s always a big hit. Today’s lesson focused on the versatility of the egg for creating low-cost meals.

The first day also featured a poetry and spoken word workshop conducted by Reader to Reader staff person, Ophelia Hu.

The poetry will be recorded at Northfire Recording Studio on the second day of the program.

The teen mothers are students at The Care Center in Holyoke where they are working on receiving their G.E.D. diplomas.

“This is our fourth year running the Athena Program and we are so pleased to partner with The Care Center,” notes David Mazor, executive director of Reader to Reader. “We have tremendous admiration for The Care Center’s commitment to improving the lives of these young women and their children.”

The Athena Interactive Literacy Program is part of Reader to Reader’s DiscoverBooks Program, which receives generous support from Mary Ann Cofrin and the AEC Trust, the Irene E. & George A. Davis Foundation, and PeoplesBank.

Norton Juster Shares Art of Storytelling at Athena Program

Norton Juster, author of the children’s classic The Phantom Tollbooth, shared the art of story writing with the teen mothers participating in Reader to Reader’s Athena Interactive Literacy program. He also spoke about the importance of reading to your children.

This year’s 6-day Athena workshop combines family literacy and songwriting, with an exploration of healthy eating and cooking. The mothers also receive a large number of books to share with their children.

Norton Juster was an immediate hit with the teen mothers, who loved his warm and folksy manner. One of the mothers said, “I wish he was my grandfather!” Each of the teen mothers received a copy of his children’s book The Hello Goodbye Window, which he signed for each of them. The young mother that had wished that he was her grandfather asked him to sign it “Grandpa Juster,” which he did.

Funding for the Athena Program comes in part from PeoplesBank.

Athena Program Features Songwriter Robin Lane

This year’s 6-day Athena Interactive Literacy Program features the dynamic Robin Lane (of Robin Lane and the Chartbusters fame) and the ever popular Chef Bill Collins.

Reader to Reader's Athena Program works with teen mothers from Holyoke, Massachusetts and focuses on building personal and family literacy skills combined with healthy eating and cooking.

The program also includes a visit from renowned children’s author Norton Juster (The Phantom Tollbooth) to talk about how children’s books are written, and a day exploring a college campus.

Robin Lane is working with the teen mothers on songwriting, and the first order of business is a group song.

Chef Bill kicked off the cooking with an exploration of the ever versatile egg.

Funding for the Athena Program comes in part from PeoplesBank.

Bags of Books!

Students from the Care Center visited Reader to Reader and had a fun time filling bags full of books for themselves and their children.

Picking out books from our 10,000 book inventory is always a great way to get hooked on reading.

The Care Center is an alternative education program located in Holyoke, Massachusetts, for pregnant and parenting teens who have dropped out of high school. We are pleased to support their work by donating books and school supplies, and through their participation in our Athena Interactive literacy Program.

Poetry Spoken Here

The teen mothers in the Athena Interactive Literacy Program had an exciting day at Northfire Studio recording their spoken word poetry.

“Taking the poetry out of the classroom and into a recording studio really brings the poetry to life for them,” said Reader to Reader executive director David Mazor.

“They have seen recording studios on MTV, so linking the poetry to the high-tech world of a professional studio creates a lot of excitement.”


Working with professional sound engineer Garrett Sawyer, the students not only recorded their poetry, but also got to see first-hand how sounds can be manipulated and edited to make a unique aural document.

In addition to the poetry, reggae music and beatboxing (a form of vocal percussion) filled the air.

Garrett Sawyer crafted a beatboxed soundtrack (performed by Reader to Reader’s own Kat Libby) to underscore the poetry. The energetic soundtrack made all the clearer the link between spoken word poetry and rap music.

2011 marks the third time Northfire Studio has hosted students in a Reader to Reader Program

“Northfire Studio is a world-class audio production facility that has produced a number of gold records, so we are extremely grateful for their donation of recording time for the Athena,” notes David Mazor. “This is their second year as part of the Athena Program and they also gave our students in the Navajo Mentoring Program an amazing experience when they visited in 2008.”

The week-long Athena Interactive Literacy Program brings together an exciting team of educators, writers, and artists, including noted writing teacher Peter Elbow, illustrious author Norton Juster, and Chef Bill Collins, a graduate of the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts with over 15 years professional experience, including the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Boston. The students spend mornings exploring reading and writing in a variety of interesting settings, pick out hundreds of books for themselves and their children, develop family literacy materials, and spend their afternoons learning to cook healthy food for themselves and their children.

The program is a partnership between Reader to Reader and the Care Center in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

Funding is provided by a grant from PeoplesBank and a generous donation from Mary Ann Cofrin.

Athena Students Get Lots and Lots of Books!

Everyday the teen mothers participating in the Athena Interactive Literacy Program go home with lots of books for themselves and their children.

“This program gets so many books into the community,” says the Care Center’s education director, Ana Rodriguez, who notes that these students come from homes in Holyoke and Springfield that are often devoid of books.

Each day the participating teen mothers spend time going through Reader to Reader’s inventory of 10,000 books, picking out titles that intrigue them. By the end of the week the mothers have taken home hundreds books that they not only read themselves and to their children, but also share with friends and family.

Launched in 2010, the Athena Interactive Literacy Program features a week-long workshop that works with pregnant and parenting teens in order to build their reading and writing skills, and to explore healthy eating and cooking.

The program is a partnership between Reader to Reader and The Care Center in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

Funding is provided by a grant from PeoplesBank and a generous donation from Mary Ann Cofrin.

Chef Bill Helps Athena Students Explore the World of Healthy Cooking

Food and fun where on the menu as Chef Bill Collins helped the teen mothers attending Reader to Reader’s Athena Interactive Literacy Program explore healthy eating and cooking.

The students spend two hours each day learning cooking techniques ranging from omelets and French toast to low-fat versions of Chicken Alfredo.

“We are so grateful to have Chef Bill, says Reader to Reader executive director David Mazor. “Bill is key to the Athena Program’s success. He’s both an educator and an entertainer. He brings such a fun energy to each lesson and the students really connect with him, which makes more open for all the writing exercises we do all week.”


Chef Bill Collins is a graduate of the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts with over 15 years professional experience, including the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Boston

Launched in 2010, the Athena Interactive Literacy Program features a week-long workshop that works with pregnant and parenting teens in order to build their reading and writing skills, and to explore healthy eating and cooking.

The program is a partnership between Reader to Reader and The Care Center in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

Funding is provided by a grant from PeoplesBank and a generous donation from Mary Ann Cofrin.