Mojo Cycling is offering bikes as an incentive for new reading program at Newton elementary schools

Newton students who meet their reading goals from now until the end of the 2022-2023 school year will get a chance to win a bike from Mojo Cycling.

“Book for a Bike” is a reading incentive program that was introduced this month to the Newton Community School District. Sponsored by the Newton Masonic Lodge, the program allows students in second and third grades to turn in parent-signed reading logs to their teacher from now until May 12.

Before the end of the year, the students who submitted their logs will be entered into a drawing to win a bike. There will be one second grade winner and one third grade winner from each elementary school. As an added bonus, each class will have its own reading goal with a prize in the end for when that goal is met.

Joe Urias, owner of Mojo Cycling, has a personal stake in encouraging Newton students to read. When Urias was in grade school, he struggled with dyslexia, and it was thanks to his teacher, Mrs. Eloise Anthony, he was able to build a foundation for himself and became a competent reader.

“My grandkids are all really strong readers and they do a lot of reading,” Urias said. “I’m glad to see the school system’s taking it so seriously. For a kid like me who struggled so much, this is for me just a no-brainer. I was never the smartest kid in school but I was at least able to function. Today, I read a lot of books.”

While he considered himself a “C” and “D” student in high school, it was the assistance from Mrs. Anthony that propelled him to earning a 4.0 grade point average in college. Dyslexia made reading a challenge for Urias in grade school, and he said it also affected his other classes.

“If you can’t read, you can’t do math either. If you can’t read and keep up with reading, I mean those are the building blocks. And if you don’t have the building blocks in third or fourth grade, you’re never going to have them,” Urias said. “This is a good program. If it incentivizes a kid to read more, then that’s great!”

By taking part in the Book for a Bike program, Urias hopes the incentive will also help develop children’s reading skills.

“I can only imagine if you can pull some kid that’s not used to reading and have an incentive of a new bike for them, I mean it could change their life,” he said.

Newton Masonic Lodge is paying for the bikes from the proceeds of its monthly breakfasts, which are held 7 to 9 a.m. on the second Saturday of every month at 208 First Avenue West. For $7, guests can enjoy all-you-can-eat eggs, pancakes, biscuits and gravy, ham, sausage, coffee and and juice.