HOULTON, Maine — Encouraging children to read more books has been a main focus for the Masons of Monument Lodge No. 96 for nearly a decade.
Each spring for the past eight years, the Masons have presented bicycles to area students through its “Bikes for Books” program. The reading incentive program rewards children with tickets for reading pre-approved books from each school.
Teachers decide the criteria to earn a ticket — such as how much reading is needed or how many minutes a student must read to receive one. Those tickets are then used to select winners of bicycles.
“What we have found over the years of running the program and talking with the teachers is that the students are excited to read for a chance to win a bike and that excitement means more learning for the students,” said Clarence Jones, chairman of the Bikes for Books program for Monument Lodge No. 96. “Each spring, the masons of Monument Lodge show up with bikes to display at the school and the kids get excited and the reading drastically picks up. Some teachers have mentioned they see kids that don’t typically do much extra work actually excel once the program starts.”
When the program started eight years ago, the Masons awarded six bikes at three schools and all fourth graders were invited to participate. After seeing how well received the program was, the group did 12 bikes the following year.
“Since then, we try to grow a little and incorporate something new,” Jones said. “As 2017 rolled around, we proudly presented 24 bikes and T-shirts to kids from pre-K to the eighth grade in Houlton and kindergarten to fifth grade in Hodgdon.”
In 2018, the Masons hope to continue that growth with an expansion to students at the high school level.
Students at Houlton Elementary School read 5,500 books this past year which was the largest total the Masons have seen in the eight years of giving away bicycles. HES received eight bicycles. The winners names were not recorded.
Lucky readers who received bikes at the Houlton Southside School were: Alexis Campbell, Peter Gendreau, Michael Hardy, Mary Drew Metherell, Camie Carmichael, and Gabe Brooker. At that assembly, Mary Drew Metherell and her friend Hayden Belyea also put together a special song and dance they did if front of the school for the Masons in attendance.
The two girls were then invited to the next Lodge No. 96 meeting to perform their show again for all the members. At that time, the Masons felt it was appropriate to present Belyea with a bike of her own.
The Houlton Middle School winners were: Taylor Toby, Jacob Anthony, Anna Hogan, Robert Buza, Grace Hardy and Tyler Marshall.
Each school also had a $50 gift card presented to a teacher, which was drawn by one of the students in attendance.
The Masons extended their appreciation to the many businesses and individuals who donated to the Bikes for Books program. The Grand Lodge of Masons in Maine is also a major sponsor and because of its support, the Masons of Maine presented their 10,000th bike in the state this year.
