CalL1 Stockton Ports

Ports Support Reading With Baseball By The Books

Published on December 29, 2009 under California League (CalL1)
Stockton Ports News Release


STOCKTON, Calif. - The Stockton Ports are excited to announce that schools can now register to participate in the 2010 Baseball by the Books program, the team's five-week reading program that promotes literacy through baseball for area students from kindergarten through eighth grade.

The Baseball by the Books program, which is available to schools for free, runs from February through April. Baseball by the Books was founded in 2007, and participation in the program has grown each season. In 2009, 32 schools and nearly 28,000 students in San Joaquin County participated in the program. The program is presented by SUBWAY(r) restaurants in 2010.

"The Ports Baseball by the Books program is designed to spread the value of reading by encouraging students to read on their own while earning free tickets to a designated Stockton Ports baseball game," said Ports Community Relations Manager Mallory Gilman. "We've had tremendous success with this program in the past, and are excited to introduce a new reward for students for the 2010 season.

"This season, students will be honored for their reading accomplishments with a pre-game parade at Banner Island Ballpark on their school's designated night. Schools are encouraged to create a banner to display during the parade. The only requirement is that the banners display the words: Reading, Ports and Splash. The winning banner will receive a free visit from Splash or a Ports player at their school!"

In January and February, members of the Stockton Ports front office staff and Splash, the Ports mascot, will visit local elementary schools to deliver a kick-off presentation to the students.

Baseball by the Books is a five week program in which weekly reading assignments are set forth for the students by teachers/administrators. Each classroom may come up with their own weekly reading requirements in order to best fit their curriculum.

Students record their assignments on a bookmark provided for free by the Ports, and return their bookmark to each teacher. Teachers will sign the bookmarks for each student who has completed the assignments successfully. At the completion of the five-week program, schools will gather all the bookmarks and turn them into the Ports collectively.

The Ports will then reward each student that successfully completes their reading for all five weeks of the Baseball by the Books program with a ticket voucher redeemable for two (2) FREE tickets for their school's designated night at the ballpark. Each teacher and administrator that has at least one student to successfully complete the Baseball by the Books program will also receive one (1) FREE ticket.

Additionally, the school which uses the highest percentage of awarded Ports tickets receives $1,000 for their school's PTA. In 2009, Walter Woodward Elementary School of Manteca received the $1,000 award.

"We're excited to continue to grow and develop our educational outreach programs," Gilman said. "We hope to welcome more schools and students to the program in 2010, and to encourage a life-long passion for reading and baseball through this program."

For more information about the Baseball by the Books program or to get your school involved in the program for 2010, please contact the Stockton Ports front office at (209) 644-1900.

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California League Stories from December 29, 2009


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