This year’s Read Across Maine Challenge brought more than 300 students from classrooms across every county in the state on a journey to rediscover the joy of reading. The challenge encouraged educators to help students explore books across a variety of genres and subject areas—from poetry and Maine authors to recipe cards and STEM connections. Students rose to the occasion by completing BINGO cards tailored to their grade levels, turning reading into classroom-wide engagement mixed with a little competition.
Read Across Maine in Action: A Visit to Three Schools
This spring, MEA President Hargrove visited classrooms at Veazie Community School, Eastport Elementary, and Alexander Elementary, where students proudly shared their reading accomplishments and favorite genres.
At Veazie, students were especially excited to talk about their current favorite genre—dragons. While President Hargrove’s chosen title, At One: In a Place Called Maine, didn’t feature fire-breathing creatures, it did highlight something just as magical, Maine itself. Sparking rich conversations, plenty of curiosity, and text-to-text connections as students related the story to other books and familiar places near their homes, like Mount Katahdin.
Integrating Literacy Across the Curriculum
At Eastport Elementary School, teacher Rachel McNally introduced the Read Across Maine challenge to her 7th grade reading group, and they eagerly embraced the opportunity. “Students were actually searching the bookshelf for books that fit the criteria [of the BINGO cards],” she said. “While searching, they found new books they were excited to read.”
Their enthusiasm culminated in a unique STEM-literacy crossover project, where students invited President Hargrove to view a presentation of their favorite books. As part of their demonstration, students programmed robots to act out movie-style book previews, selecting which stories they’d like to “watch” next. Even when the programming didn’t go as planned, students showed resilience—debugging their code and getting their robots back on track. The project was a powerful example of how reading can be integrated across disciplines to spark creativity, problem-solving, and deeper engagement.
In Alexander, Emma Hill’s 2nd and 3rd grade class enjoyed President Hargrove’s read aloud of I Met a Moose in Maine One Day. The rhyming tale brought them on a journey through Maine. Students were excited to identify towns that they knew, and curious to point out new towns and find them on the Maine map. Hill noted how the BINGO challenge helped students explore new genres: “They learned how to use the library better and to find different books than they would usually check out.”
Bringing Literacy to Life
Educators across the state used MEA’s Read Across Maine BINGO cards to bring literacy to life in creative ways. Through these activities, teachers and education support professionals engaged students in diverse literacy resources, helping them deepen their love of reading.
At Winslow Elementary, resource room teacher Cindy Pelotte used the challenge to engage struggling readers by introducing them to a wide range of texts—from poetry and magazines to comic books and even recipes. “We read recipes. Talked about how important reading is in every job that they would do,” she said. “I believe that this has increased their interest in reading, which is a big step into becoming a better reader.”
At Dayton Consolidated School, pre-k teacher Erin Gaudette integrated the challenge into her class’s “All About Maine” social studies project. “We explored a variety of Maine authors and book genres to inspire a love for reading in early learners,” she said. “It also created an opportunity to discuss the benefits of visiting local libraries and participating in activities that enhanced a literacy-rich experience.”
Whether students were exploring Maine’s literary landscape, programming robots to bring stories to life, or sharing books with their families at home, the challenge reminded us that literacy is not confined to a single subject or space
As Pelotte shared, “It’s not what they read that matters—but that they find something they enjoy.” That spirit of discovery and joy was evident in every classroom, every BINGO card, and every conversation sparked by a good book.
