Retired Patriot doesn’t pass up opportunity to promote literacy

Date: 7/26/2011

July 25, 2011

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor

SPRINGFIELD — Retired New England Patriot Patrick Pass said he understands the need for a good education and developing a strong reading habit. That was his motivation in part to perform a read-aloud at the Springfield Boys & Girls Club on July 19 in conjunction with Link to Libraries.

“I’m trying to get in here and start these kids [reading] while they are young,” he said.

Before reading and speaking with about 40 third, fourth and fifth graders who were part of the Hasbro Summer Learning Initiative, Pass said he never really paid much attention in school until the ninth grade when a coach told him that if he took school seriously his athletic ability could lead to an academic scholarship and a free education.

Pass said that conversation changed his attitude and he played football at the University of Georgia. Between semesters, he played for the Florida Marlins minor league team. He was drafted by the Patriots in 2000 and retired from the National Football League (NFL) in 2009.

He said as a former NFL player he likes to “give back as much as I can.”

“I do as much as I can to try to show my face in communities when it comes to kids,” he added.

Pass practices what he preaches at home when it comes to reading. He proudly noted his 12 year-old daughter is a straight “A” student and he reads aloud to his 1 year-old daughter.

He said the fact that the members of his extended family don’t take education seriously saddened him.

Susan Jaye-Kaplan, co-founder and president of Link to Libraries, was one of five individuals recognized last month by the New England Patriots 2011 Community MVP Awards for her work encouraging literacy. Her organization received a $10,000 grant for its work.

Since 2008, the organization has donated more than 27,000 books to area non-profit organizations and public elementary schools.

Each of the students at the read-aloud received a book bag with two books.

Kaplan told the children that although she was orphaned as a child, she was able to visit the Great Wall of China and many other places through the books she read at the Boston Public Library.

Once the children found their seats, Pass began to read a book about the importance of reading. He interrupted the narrative to ask the students questions about their own reading habits and their interest in video games.

“Don’t be afraid to read,” he told them. “You can put down the video games for an hour.”

When he heard one student express his preference for video games, Pass said with a smile, “We’re going to change that up.”

For more information on Link to Libraries, visit its Web site at www.linktolibraries.org.