Toms River Schools Receive NEA Big Read Grant Again

TOMS RIVER, NJ — For the second straight year, the Toms River Regional School District has been awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts Big Read program.

The grant is used to emphasize reading by planning community events built around a book with the idea of getting students, parents and the community at large reading and sharing about the book.

The Toms River schools were one of two public school districts to receive Big Read grants last year. That grant of $14,000 was used to create a monthlong program that focused on the post-apocalyptic novel "Station Eleven" and used it to draw parallels to Superstorm Sandy, culminating with the fifth anniversary of the hurricane's destructive impact on New Jersey.

This year's grant is for $15,000 and will focus on "The Things They Carried," a collection of short stories. The Toms River schools are one of 79 grant recipients nationwide for the 2018-19 school year.

“This past October, NEA Big Read proved to be not only a fun and engaging way to promote literacy, but a means of uniting people throughout Toms River,” Superintendent David Healy said. “This award for the coming year further cements our involvement in Big Read and our capacity to host wide-scale programs, and it’s also on the continuum of our efforts in student achievement, literacy, and community partnerships.”

This year's Big Read will begin in mid-February 2019 and culiminate on March 29, 2019, which is Vietnam Veterans Memorial Day. "The Things They Carried" is a collection of interconnected Vietnam War stories by author Tim O’Brien, a Vietnam War veteran. The book has sold more than 2 million copies and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist.

The book was chosen in part because Toms River boasts the largest population of veterans in New Jersey, and the school district hopes to use the program to build intergenerational bonds between students and vets.

The district also aims to spark challenging and instructive conversations: "The book’s challenging themes and raw prose will help our students and families identify and confront the weights we all carry, and develop stronger literacy skills and deeper interpersonal connections,” the district said in its grant application.

“What seems to appeal to the NEA and Arts Midwest about our approach is the fact that we really strive to relate our selected novel to Toms River,” said Tonya Rivera, the supervisor of high school English and language arts for the district. “This past year we successfully connected a contemporary, post-apocalyptic novel to Superstorm Sandy, and next year we plan to use 'The Things They Carried' not only to discuss the broader issue of war, but the figurative weights we carry as a township, and as classmates, families, and friends. This will open the door to exploring challenging and personal topics like mental health and addiction.”

Rivera and Christy Downs, the Big Read co-director and supervisor of English and language arts for the intermediate schools, are planning events including a mini-poetry festival for students based on the novel, family book clubs, and collaborative events with the Ocean County Library such as a “Music of the Vietnam Era” showcase.

“Toms River has almost 7,000 veterans,” said Emily Mazzoni, Ocean County Library’s principal librarian of teen services. “We look forward to this Big Read as a literary bridge between generations. Our programs will center around the parallels of the 1960s generation and today’s generation, including teen empowerment, engagement and advocacy.”

Through the grant and with additional financial backing from Ocean County College, the Ocean County College Foundation, and OCC’s Jay and Linda Grunin Center for the Arts, the district has secured an appearance and keynote address from O'Brien, who is one of America’s most renowned scribes and foremost authorities on the Vietnam War and its lasting legacy. In 2005 the New York Times named "The Things They Carried" one of the 22 best books of the last quarter century. O’Brien’s novels have sold over 6 million copies and have been translated into more than 20 languages. In 2013, O’Brien received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Literature from the Pritzker Military Library, and in 2018 he received the Mark Twain Award in literature.

O'Brien, who appeared in Ken Burns’ "The Vietnam War" documentary PBS series, is scheduled to appear in Toms River on March 28, 2019, which will serve as the culminating event of the program. More details on his appearance will be released in the coming months.

“The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support opportunities for communities across the nation, both small and large, to take part in the NEA Big Read,” said NEA Acting Chairman Mary Anne Carter. “This program encourages people not only to discuss a book together, but be introduced to new perspectives, discuss the issues at the forefront of our own lives, and connect with one another at events.”

The district will again be working on the program with the Ocean County Library, its primary partner for the Big Read, as well as Ocean County College, the Greater Toms River Chamber of Commerce, and Ocean County Health Department.

The military element of the novel has gained support for the program from a number of local veterans and Toms River schools' alumni; NAVAIR, with which the district is already working on a three-year coding initiative funded by the Office of Naval Research; Ocean County Tourism, which boasts strong ties to many local veterans organizations; and Warrior Writers, a veteran poets organization the district has joined with thanks to the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.

“The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support opportunities for communities across the nation, both small and large, to take part in the NEA Big Read,” said NEA Acting Chairman Mary Anne Carter. “This program encourages people not only to discuss a book together, but be introduced to new perspectives, discuss the issues at the forefront of our own lives, and connect with one another at events.”

“From Toms River Mayor Tom Kellaher, to members of our Board of Education, to numerous district staff members, veterans comprise a large and extremely important element of our township’s makeup,” said Russ Corby, president of the Board of Education. “Our board proudly supports a program that will spotlight our service members and veterans. NEA Big Read has proven to be a unique way to highlight student achievement while uniting this community, and it’s brought some well-deserved national attention to Toms River.”

Information about events and activities will be posted to the district’s NEA Big Read website, and will be shared via its social media channels and those of its project partners. Any institutions in Toms River interested in partnering with the district on this and other initiatives may contact grant writer Mike Kenny at 732-505-5500 ext. 500053.

Photos: Tim O’Brien, author of "The Things They Carried," and the jacket of the book. Photos provided by the Toms River Regional School District and used with permission