School is out for the summer, but that does not mean the learning has to stop. Elaine Stowell and Linda Miller, reading teachers at Seward Elementary, are making sure their students keep reading over the summer. They are mailing their students a book every two weeks during the summer to be sure students keep working on their independent reading skills during the summer months.

Linda Miller has been a teacher for 21 years, 11 of them at Seward Elementary. Elaine Stowell has been teaching for 20 years, and has been at Seward for the past 10 years. Both reading specialists are passionate about sharing their love of reading with their students. In their years of experience, both teachers have noticed how important it is for children to keep reading over the summer months to keep their skills sharp. Children who do not read over the summer months need to spend more time reviewing last year's skills before they can move on to more advanced lessons.

This summer, with a grant from the Auburn Education Foundation, about 65 children will receive five books, one every two weeks in the mail. The idea is similar to the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, where children receive a book by mail once per month. Children are excited to get mail addressed to them and that generates an excitement to read their new book. This is also a nice way a child can begin or expand their own book collection at home, or share their books with younger siblings.

The children who will be receiving books this summer were selected by their teacher, who used a simple test to identify students who may need a little extra help in reading. The Dynamic Indication of Basic Early Literacy Skills test (DIBELS) is a quick but effective way that educators can gauge a student's reading skills. It consists mostly of students reading a short paragraph aloud to the teacher. In fact, this is a test all schoolchildren are given at least a few times during the year. Teachers will be looking to see if the students who received summer books improved or at least maintained their skill levels over the summer. Parents will also be asked to fill out a survey so the teachers can see if this was an enjoyable experience or if other children in the home also benefited from the extra reading time.

While Linda and Elaine are the driving force behind this program, there were many other people who helped them along the way. Books were donated by many teachers from Seward Elementary, the Every Person Influences Children (EPIC) program and the Success By Six program. Thank you to all these dedicated educators!

Annette Abdelaziz is the executive director of the Auburn Education Foundation