Book Festival co-directors Lisa Dolan and the "amazing" Jennifer Clark.
The founder of the Hudson Reads mentoring project and co-founder of the Hudson Children’s Book Festival may be retiring from the city’s school district in June, but she will leave a lasting impression on the city she loves. The literacy coach, wife and mother of three, member of the NYS Commissioner’s Advisory Panel for English Language Arts, and this year’s Hudson High commencement speaker, talks about her legacy. My husband and I were both born in Hudson. I went to Siena College, and then earned a master’s at St. Rose. I’ve always had a spark for education, and always felt like that was the place for me. I’ve worked for 31 years in the Hudson school system, first as a classroom teacher and the last nine as a literacy coach. Every spring, during National Book Week, I’d have authors come into the school to talk to the kids; it really makes literature come alive for them. I was putting so much effort into getting all these authors here, that one of them suggested I start a festival. I met with the director of a festival in Rochester, NY and modeled it on that. After the first year, in 2009, there was a waiting list of authors who wanted to join us.
The missing link was The Literacy Fund, started by Chris Jones and Susan Simon in 2010. The money we raise allows for author visits to the school, as well as for coupons so the students (70 percent of whom live at poverty level) can purchase a book of their choice at the Festival. They cashed in over 300 book vouchers this year, and that is the culmination of all of our hard work. The Fund also gave out four $500 scholarships to graduating college-bound seniors so they can buy books at school. Something that I’m the most proud of is a program I started six years ago called Hudson Reads. Every week, over 100 community members read with the same child in grades 3-6. Afterwards, many mentors stay in touch with the kids and continue to meet up with them. Someone said we should really call it Hudson Talks because there’s a lot of conversation, too. It’s really about giving the kids one-on-one attention. The program costs the school nothing; it’s entirely volunteer-based. The community is so generous; everyone from retired teachers and grandparents, to young people just moving to the area and people from out of town participate. Even my husband is a mentor. And we're always looking for more volunteers to mentor and to help with the Festival. Nothing helps drives a child’s success and learning more than putting a book in their hand. Plus, it’s hard to get in trouble when you’re reading. Everything I’ve done is always because I’m surrounded by great people, I can’t stress that enough. If you ask for things and tell people how passionate you are about them, people want to be around good and exciting things. It’s about who you surround yourself with, and the people I work with are the best. There will always be something to criticize, but you have to band together on behalf of good things, make those connections and share. It’s not a competition, it’s a marathon that we’re in together. I’m happy that I stayed in Hudson; I wouldn’t have it any other way.
