BOSTON – Boston Celtics Forward Kris Humphries today spent time with 6-7 year olds from the John F. Kennedy School at a special holiday-themed reading event held in partnership with Boston-based education leader Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH). Humphries read stories with the children and discussed the significance of reading in their lives as part of a festive celebration of reading at the Four Seasons Hotel in Boston.
“Whenever we do these types of events we try to make an impact on the children’s lives by interacting with them while also encouraging them to be excited about reading,” Humphries said. “I hope the kids learned the importance of reading and had some fun today.”
Humphries read Tacky and the Winter Games, starring beloved HMH character Tacky the Penguin, with the students and shared the names of some of his favorite books, stressing the importance of reading at a young age. After taking part in a winter craft project, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt provided a copy of Tacky and the Winter Games for each child to take home.“Today’s activities offered a wonderful opportunity to promote literacy and celebrate the love of reading in a fun and festive way for kids,” said Linda Zecher, CEO of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. “We believe in the power of reading to inspire curiosity and create lifelong learners and we’re thrilled to partner with the Celtics to share that vision with young people throughout our home city of Boston.”
Today’s event marks the latest collaboration in a new partnership between the Celtics and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt designed to promote youth literacy and celebrate learning. In October, HMH volunteers teamed up with the Celtics for a day of service at Ellis Elementary School in Roxbury, where the two organizations continue to collaborate on a library renovation project for the school community to be completed in 2014. HMH is proud to support the Celtics Read to Achieve Program presented by KIA Motors in partnership with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Pictured: Celtics Forward, Kris Humphries, Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs, Bianca Olson, and Boston Celtics Mascot, Lucky with John F. Kennedy School students
Photos by: Steve Babineau
About Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (NASDAQ:HMHC) is a global learning company with the mission of changing people’s lives by fostering passionate, curious learners. Among the world’s largest providers of pre-K–12 education solutions and one of its longest-established publishing houses, HMH combines cutting-edge research, editorial excellence and technological innovation to improve teaching and learning environments and solve complex literacy and education challenges. HMH’s interactive, results-driven education solutions are utilized by 50 million students in over 150 countries, and its renowned and awarded novels, non-fiction, children's books and reference works are enjoyed by readers throughout the world. For more information, visit www.hmhco.com.
About The Boston Celtics
A charter member of the Basketball Association of America (which evolved into the National Basketball Association) since 1946, the Boston Celtics have won a record 17 NBA Championships, including eight (8) in a row from 1959-1966, winning their first title in 1957 and their most recent in 2008. The Celtics have long stood for equality, and respect, including hiring the first African American Coach and starting the first all black starting five. In addition, 35 former Celtics players, management or staff have been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In December 2002 the team returned to local ownership for the first time since 1963. For more information on the Celtics, log on to www.celtics.com.