FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – School is almost out for summer, but there is no offseason for reading, which is why The Patriots Hall of Fame presented by Raytheon and JetBlue have teamed up to encourage children to take on the "Read Between the Lines" summer reading challenge.
To kick off the challenge, The Hall recently hosted former Patriots tight end and Super Bowl LI Champion Martellus Bennett for a reading rally on Friday, April 26. Third graders from P.A. Shaw Elementary School in Dorchester and fourth graders from Holy Name School in Fall River attended the rally.
"I spent a lot of time reading books on the team flights and in the locker room during our Super Bowl season," said Bennett. "I wanted to be a champion on the field and a champion off the field. Reading helped me develop a championship mindset in all phases of life. I'm a believer that readers are leaders and I am very excited to encourage, support and cheer on our students as they read between the lines this summer."
Bennett's book, "Dear Black Boy," sends an inspirational message to youth to not let others impose artificial limits on them based on their skin color.
The "Read Between the Lines" reading program challenges children ages 5-18 to read 1,000 minutes between July 1 and Aug. 31. Participants can share their progress on social media by using the hashtag #PatriotsREAD. Participants who turn in their completed reading logs to The Hall by Sept. 15 will receive two passes to The Hall, a Read Between the Lines bookmark, a commemorative completion certificate and one entry into the grand prize raffle. Ten lucky grand prize winners will receive an autographed photo of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.
For more information about the "Read Between the Lines" summer reading challenge presented by JetBlue, please visit www.patriots.com/READ.
ABOUT THE PATRIOTS HALL OF FAME PRESENTED BY RAYTHEON
The Patriots Hall of Fame presented by Raytheon is the crown jewel of Patriot Place and the only sports and education experience of its kind. Through a dazzling array of interactive multimedia exhibits and artifacts never before viewable by the public, The Hall showcases the tradition of the New England Patriots, explores the history of football in New England and promotes math and science education for thousands of schoolchildren each year. The Hall received a Gold MUSE Award from the American Association of Museums and The Hall's signature film, "Patriots Way," won a CINE Golden Eagle Award. The Hall was named to Boston Globe Magazine's Best of the New, and was a Yankee magazine Editor's Choice recommendation. Tickets to The Hall are $10 for adults, $7 for seniors and $5 for children 5-12. Children 4 and under are admitted for free. The current hours of operation are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday. For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit www.PatriotsHallofFame.com, visit "The Patriots Hall of Fame presented by Raytheon" on Facebook, follow @TheHall on Twitter and @PatriotsHall on Instagram.
ABOUT DEAR BLACK BOY
Dear Black Boy (www.DearBlackBoy.com) is an illustrated book adapted from Martellus Bennett's letter of inspiration to young black boys following the 2016 shootings of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling. Bennett's third illustrated book, Dear Black Boy is available for purchase online now via DearBlackBoy.com and Amazon. In Dear Black Boy, Bennett twists the usual sports tropes into words of encouragement for young black boys to dream bigger and imagine more from the game of life. The original letter written by Bennett for The Players' Tribune is incredibly moving and wildly popular. Now in the book form, Martellus is combining his artistic skills with his letter to inspire a new generation.
ABOUT THE IMAGINATION AGENCY
The Imagination Agency is a multi-platform studio from the wondrous mind of Martellus Bennett. A small studio with giant ideas, building fantastical magical worlds filled with Weirdness for you to escape to. Think of us as your travel agents. The Imagination Agency is committed to creating kids' next great adventures by creating multi-media projects that encourage kids to dream more and imagine bigger. The company's work seeks to increase representation of kids of color on the page and screen by creating stories depicting characters that look like them having adventures. The Imagination Agency's titles include the Hey A.J. series, Hey A.J., It's Bedtime! And Hey A.J., It's Saturday! books, which also both have accompanying interactive apps available on iOS and Android devices as well as the children's audio show on Pinna, The Hey A.J. Show. The Hey A.J. series also appears on the small screen in The Fantastical Adventures of A.J. which is available on The Imagination Agency's YouTube page. The Imagination Agency has created books, apps, animated films and more.
ABOUT MARTELLUS BENNETT
One of the league's top tight ends during his career, Martellus Bennett played 10 years in the NFL for the Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots, Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers. More than a football player, Bennett is a renaissance man and a true creative visionary. Bennett is an entrepreneur, animator, illustrator, author, app creator, creator, musician, dreamer and much more. In 2014, Bennett founded The Imagination Agency, a multi-media creative production company focused on children's literature, entertainment and education. The Imagination Agency's mission is to inspire children to chase their dreams and encourage creativity, all while embracing their own individuality. For his work with The Imagination Agency, Bennett was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Sports, Adweek's Creative100 and The Root 100 lists and he delivered a keynote address at the Forbes 30 Under 30 Summit.
