Muskogee Mayor Challenges City To Read
education, john tyler hammons, literacy, mayor, muskogee, muskogee high school,
Muskogee Mayor John Tyler Hammons is 21 years old and not long out of high school, yet he is still connected to the public school system – and he has brought his constituents with him.
Hammons conceived the Mayor’s Reading Challenge in 2008 to urge parents to get more involved by reading the books their children are required to read before graduating from Muskogee High School.
“I saw something in the paper about a Big Read initiative in Tahlequah that challenged citizens to read more, so I called one of my former teachers – Melanie Carey – along with Jan Bryant at the public library, to see if this could be accomplished in Muskogee,” Hammons says. “Sure enough, high school students here are required to read 20 specific books from their freshman through senior years, so we prompted adults to read those same books as part of the Mayor’s Reading Challenge.”
The challenge began in September 2008 and lasted the entire academic year, finishing in May 2009, when the city sponsored an essay contest for adult participants to write about any of the 20 books. The top three essay winners received cash prizes.
“The library really couldn’t keep track of how many people participated in the reading program, but I know that all 20 books were always checked out of the library throughout the year,” Hammons says. “Whenever someone returned a book, someone else immediately snatched it up.”
Books in the program included 1984, Julius Caesar and The Tortilla Curtain.
“The Giver by Lois Lowry is my personal favorite, so to kick off the program, I posed for a promotional poster that depicts me reading The Giver,” Hammons says. “The message was basically that the mayor enjoys reading in his spare time, so maybe everyone else should give it a try, too.”
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