About

OUR MISSION

The mission of the Bedford Teachers' Association Fox Read Committee is simple:  

engage our community through a shared reading experience

When we say community we mean the larger community within our school district which may include students, parents, faculty, staff, administration AND all of those living and/or working within the Bedford Central School District who may not have children in our schools.  

The hope is that the reading of a common text brings people of all ages, backgrounds, and experiences together in order to understand the text, author, and/or topic in a new and meaningful way which ultimately builds our community.

OUR HISTORY

Fox Read began as a Bedford Teachers' Association initiative with a committee of two people in 2018. 

Working with all of the district public libraries who share the same goal, the committee organized the first community read in 2018-2019 of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night by Mark Haddon.  Discussions were held at each of the public libraries with a final event held at the Bedford Playhouse.  

In the second annual community read held in 2019-2020 we read Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass.  Due to the pandemic all events continued on virtually and Wendy Mass joined us to speak about the writing process.


For the 2021-2022 school year the committee grew to six BTA members who dedicated themselves to this mission and planning the best experiences possible for the community.  A fundraising event, the Read-a-thon, was held to build more funds in order to purchase books and supplies for the events held.  The book chosen was The Beautiful Struggle by Ta-Nehisi Coates.  A kick-off event was held at the Bedford Playhouse with Robe Imbriano who is not only a Fox Lane Alum, but was the Co-creator and Executive Producer of Netflix's Amend. 


For the 2022-2023 Fox Read the Committee grew again to 7 BTA members and chose to have 3 books as a part of our community read in order to get as many kinds of readers as possible.  Discussions and events were held during Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 to October 15).  The titles of were: The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo, Merci Suárez Changes Gears by  Meg Medina, and Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal.


In the 2023  The Coddling of the American Mind by George Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt as well as When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller were chosen as the books for the community read.  


In 2024 the Fox Read committee connected with Bedford Schools' Art Departments and decided on the graphic novels New Kid and Mary's Monster.  In conjunction with Mary's Monster, Frankenstein also was part of the community read. The final event was a creative-writing reading and an art show at the Mount Kisco Public Library.  The event provided an opportunity for students to share their artistic monsters. 


Each year members of the Bedford Teachers' Association have pre-read and discussed books for consideration.  BTA members have been lead facilitators of discussions held at the local libraries and artists who have shared their talents in our marketing and events.  The Bedford Staff Development Center has had BTA members participate in research and professional development around the themes of the books.  


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The Bedford Teachers' Association and the Fox Read Committee hope that everyone will not only participate in this unique opportunity to read, discuss and connect with your community, but also encourage family, friends and neighbors to do so as well.  

OUR COMMITMENT

The Bedford Teachers' Association is committed to supporting Fox Read.  The BTA membership donates funds for the purchase of books that are put into circulation at the local libraries during the course of the read.  Once the read is completed, the books are then brought back to the schools for potential use by students for personal reading and/or use in the classroom.  


The Fox Read Committee along with the BTA hosted a Read-a-thon in 2021 which generated over $2,000 that could be used for more books, marketing materials, advertisements and events.  


The BTA working with the Bedford Staff Development Center also contributes to the advertisement of BTA Fox Read and holds professional learning activities for faculty and staff that allow participants and facilitators to read, research and discuss the themes and implications on teaching, learning, and community engagement.

THANK YOU

The Bedford Teachers' Association and the Fox Read Committee would like to thank...