Eager Lower School students gathered in the Alumni Auditorium for the annual read-a-thon finale assembly on Wednesday, February 26. Science teacher Becca Stolzenbach began the assembly by sharing that Gilman's Lower School has been holding the read-a-thon for 30 years (and maybe longer; the Archives has records dating back 30 years) and that the event has raised $100,000 for local nonprofits in just the last six years. She and pre-kindergarten teacher Marisa Schomisch, as service learning co-coordinators for the Lower School, planned the read-a-thon.

In 2025, the read-a-thon nonprofit partner is Weekend Backpacks, whose mission is to improve the lives of students in Baltimore City affected by food insecurity. Although all students in Baltimore City Public Schools receive free breakfast and lunch on weekdays, those experiencing food insecurity face the weekend without that reliable access to meals. Weekend Backpacks aims to bridge that gap; its tagline is: "Hunger doesn't take the weekend off."

Stolzenbach introduced special guests from the organization — Maxine Lowy, who serves on the board, and Sandie Nagel, who founded Weekend Backpacks in 2015 when she saw firsthand while volunteering at a school how food insecurity affects a child's ability to learn. Nagel spoke to the boys about how Weekend Backpacks got its start. "Exactly 10 years ago, I had an idea. I was going to feed kids in Baltimore City who were hungry," she began. "So I bought 18 backpacks and I filled them with food."

She explained how their efforts have expanded over time from a dozen and a half backpacks in 2015 to 1,950 backpacks that go home with children each weekend now. "Today we are still growing," she said, thanks to many supporters, including the boys at Gilman. To show her appreciation, she donated an award-winning book to the Lower School library titled "What Do You Do with an Idea?" by Kobi Yamada, which explores the power of ideas and the resilience necessary to bring them to life.

For the most exciting part of the assembly, fifth grader Pierce H. and fourth grader Theo S. were randomly selected to make the announcements everyone had been waiting for. How many hours did the Lower School boys read during the monthlong read-a-thon? And how much money did they raise for Weekend Backpacks?

2,113 hours and 45 minutes read
$13,306 Raised for Weekend Backpacks

Congratulations to all the read-a-thon participants! And a big thank you to the parents and teachers who encouraged them, and to Ms. Stolzenbach, Ms. Schomisch, and the Lower School faculty and staff for organizing a successful read-a-thon!