PUEBLO, Colo. (KOAA) — Pueblo School District 60 (D60) is taking a unique approach to strengthen students' reading abilities by partnering with a local small business to make books more accessible to families.
The district has teamed up with Analogue Books and Records, a local bookstore in Downtown Pueblo, to help students find their reading niche and improve literacy scores across the district.
"What we have is books and what we want to do is promote reading," said Mike Hartkop, owner of Analogue Books. "Anything they want to read is a good thing to read."
Books on D60's reading lists are displayed at the front of the store, and families have direct access to these titles at a 20% discount.
Students in D60 can also buy other books in the store at a 10% discount, as long as they show their student ID. Hartkop said the selection will change as the district updates its reading lists.
"It will rotate as we get the update from D60, so it'll always be changing, always evolving, along with the reading list," said Hartkop.
As a father of three children in D60 schools, Hartkop says he has seen the power of reading firsthand.
"I've got a kid going through Blue Lock right now, which is an anime, and he's just a voracious reader now. Two years ago, he struggled reading, and now he’s... asking us like 50 times a day for another book,” said Hartkop. “Hopefully we can instill that excitement in other students too.”
The partnership comes as D60 works to address literacy scores. According to the Colorado Department of Education, only 26.2% of third through eighth graders met or exceeded expectations on the state's English Language Arts (CMAS) test last school year, 2024-2025.
"Reading is the key to basically everything in life," said D60 Superintendent Barbara Kimzey.
Kimzey said the district has launched a comprehensive effort to improve reading from pre-K through 12th grade.
"So some of what we're doing is reading across content areas, helping teachers understand what strategies they can use in their classrooms to help improve students' understanding of content," said Superintendent Kimzey. "And of course we expect to see an increase in CMAS scores across the board, but truly, it is not about a test, it is about helping kids reach their fullest potential.”
She said at the third grade level, students transition from learning to read to reading to learn.
"It's really making sure students can understand, comprehend what they're reading, and then make connections between what they're reading and what they've already learned previously," said Superintendent Kimzey.
Hartkop believes reading provides benefits beyond academic achievement, inspiring creativity and improving children's attention spans.
"They learn every time they read, and they learn focus, and I think it makes them a better person to just have a little bit more patience, too," said Hartkop.
The D60 books will remain on display at Analogue Books for the entire school year. Hartkop hopes this will become an ongoing partnership with the district.
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