Staten Island’s Super Readers Celebrated With Ceremony This Week
BP Vito Fossella
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BP Fossella to Celebrate Staten Island’s Super Readers for Milestone 30th Annual Readers are Leaders Awards Ceremony
Editor’s note: A few years ago we covered Borough President Fossella’s Readers Are Leaders awards ceremony. This program and ceremony is devoted to reading, which prepares kids to become leaders as they mature in life. Frequenting local libraries and reading are among the few ways that kids can break through to the next level in their lives, education, and career. Reading comprehension and continuous reading throughout life keeps the brain functioning better even as people age. This program was created way back in 1996, as the 30 year milestone has just been reached.
Staten Island, NY – Borough President Vito Fossella will commemorate the 30th Anniversary of the Readers are Leaders 4th grade literacy challenge and celebrate this year’s Super Readers at a ceremony at the Michael J. Petrides School on Tuesday, June 9th at 6:00 PM.
Students of all Staten Island public, private, and parochial schools participated in the 2026 Readers are Leaders competition, which challenged them to read at least five books in five weeks, and produce a report on their favorite book. This year is the 30th anniversary of the program, which has put more than 840,000 books in the hands of over 140,000 fourth graders since its inception.
This year’s ceremony will celebrate this tremendous milestone and will honor one Super Reader selected by each participating school with an award from the Borough President.
We would like to thank Community Media of Staten Island and the Staten Island Ferryhawks for sponsoring this year’s challenge. And, we would like to thank the thousands of students and their families, and the hundreds of teachers and school administrators who have participated over the years and have made the lifetime of this program so engaging and fulfilling.
Borough President Vito Fossella presented awards to this year’s “Readers Are Leaders” Exceptional Readers at the Joan & Alan Bernikow Jewish Community Center of Staten Island on Tuesday.
“Readers Are Leaders’” challenged fourth-grade students to read a minimum of five books at grade level or above and produce a report on their favorite book over the course of five weeks.
This year, students in 45 public, private, and parochial schools participated in the Challenge. One super reader was selected by their respective school and was honored as an “Exceptional Reader.”
The Challenge was started by then-Councilman Fossella in 1996 and since its inception, more than 135,000 fourth-grade students have read 810,000 books, which equals more than 30 billion words.
“Who here likes to read?” asked Borough President Fossella as the students raised their hands.
“We take this program very seriously because we know how important reading is to you.”
“A lot of life comes from trying to understand other things, people and cultures, and the more you read, the more you’re able to lead,” he said. “That’s why we call it ‘Readers are Leaders’ because the world is thirsty for leaders. Staten Island is thirsty for leaders. Your school — if you play sports, or dance, or cheer, whatever the case may be — will always need leaders.”
The Office of the Borough President has a responsibility to advocate for the entire Borough of Staten Island and all its residents, and represents the Borough's interests within City government.
The Borough President communicates directly with the Mayor and the City Council to emphasize Staten Island’s budget priorities.
In addition, the Borough President is responsible for reviewing major land use decisions and proposing sites for city facilities within the Borough.
As the chair of the Borough Board, the Borough President leads Staten Island’s City Council delegation and Community Board chairs in the process of reviewing and approving the transfer of public properties to private use. The Borough President’s Office houses the Borough's Topographical Bureau, which maintains the borough’s official maps and assigns street addresses.
The Borough President monitors the delivery of city services on Staten Island, and acts as a liaison between residents and city agencies when problems arise to devise solutions. The Borough President is also responsible for appointing one member to the Panel for Educational Policy and one member to the City Planning Commission, as well as some 150 members to Staten Island’s three community boards.
