At Gardiners Avenue Elementary School in Levittown, Islanders center Josh Bailey and winger Tim Jackman talked to more than 300 students about the joys of reading and how much they use it in everyday life, from street signs to menus. They also took turns reading a few pages of The Hockey Machine by Matt Christopher, a popular children’s book author who specializes in sports-themed books.
 
Jackman, known for his rocking hits on the ice, likes to read anything about rock ‘n’ roll on road trips, and is currently reading a book about the Beatles. His favorite book growing up was Gretzky: An Autobiography by Wayne Gretzky and Rick Reilly, where one of the greatest players of all-time talks about his life on and off the ice. Jackman also talked about the importance of getting kids to read. “It’s very important to introduce kids to reading, and stick with it, and enjoy it because it’s a big part of life,” he said.
 
Susan Hendler, the principal of Gardiners, said the school was chosen to host the event thanks to an essay written by the school’s reading teacher, Randy Metzger, who wrote an essay about the Gardiners’ reading program. Hendler said the school does a lot to encourage kids to read and provides them with every opportunity to do so.
 
“Every classroom has a small library, and every class sets aside time each day for reading. We encourage kids to take books out of our school library once a week and to go to the Levittown library to read on their own time,” she said.
 
Bailey, like Jackman, is also a fan of Gretzky’s autobiography and likes to read anything about hockey. He read a lot of hockey books as a kid, and reads mostly hockey magazines now, The Hockey News being his favorite. Bailey agreed that it is important to make sure kids enjoy reading at an early age. 
 
“You have to make it fun for them. I think you need to find a book you like; then keep it enjoyable. If you make them read something they’re not going to like, then they might get the wrong impression about it,” he said. “It’s always fun coming out to the schools. You get to see the kids, and see how passionate and excited they are. It makes you feel good about being here.”
 
The Literacy Day Program is a segment of the Islanders at School Program that engages students in various ways. The Islanders at School Program initiatives bring assemblies and workshops to various schools throughout New York. The program includes hockey-themed lesson plans areas such as reading, writing, math, health and physical education.
 
At Francis F. Wilson School in Rockville Centre, Trent Hunter and Andy Sutton were welcomed by an energetic group of fourth and fifth grade students; many of which were wearing Islander jerseys and tee shirts. Sutton, a 1998 graduate of Michigan Technological University’s College of Engineering, talked about how important reading was to his education.
 
 “If I hadn’t been such a proficient reader and good student, I wouldn’t have been able to earn a college scholarship,” Sutton said. “I studied engineering, which was very difficult and required a tremendous amount of reading. Obviously, the importance of having a good base as a young person helped me to prepare for college. If my grades hadn’t been up to par, I wouldn’t have been able to play. It’s really important to read.”
 
The players read two chapters from Penalty Shot, also written by Matt Christopher, answered questions from the children, and signed autographs. Penalty Shot tells the story of a boy named Jeff Conner who is released from his youth hockey team because of poor grades.  
 
The students weren’t the only ones who were appreciative of the program. The event was moderated by Therese Cohen, a special education teacher and administrative intern for the Rockville Centre School District. Cohen thought the event was a successful one.
 
“The idea of having the Islanders read to the children is fabulous,” Cohen said. “In the children’s minds, they’re connecting professional athletes with reading. They may view the hockey players as role models or heroes. Hopefully, the children have a better understanding of how important reading is, even to professional athletes.”