One of the most powerful gifts we can give our students is the ability to learn about the world around them through books.  Reading fosters independent thinking, academic mastery, and social connection.  The focus of our summer reading program at St. Thomas More Catholic High School is to facilitate an opportunity for students to develop a lifelong love of reading.  

The high school years can be challenging for adolescents, and reading is one of many ways we can support our students in helping them to develop connections with others.  While our interests and abilities vary, reading literature from a variety of perspectives that expose students to many literary styles and cultures offers each student the ability to become a "seeker of truth, an individual of character, and 'God's servant first.'"

In his letter on the "ROLE OF LITERATURE IN FORMATION" in 2024, Pope Francis wrote:

In terms of the use of language, reading a literary text places us in the position of “seeing through the eyes of others” [C.S. Lewis], thus gaining a breadth of perspective that broadens our humanity. We develop an imaginative empathy that enables us to identify with how others see, experience and respond to reality. Without such empathy, there can be no solidarity, sharing, compassion, mercy. In reading we discover that our feelings are not simply our own, they are universal, and so even the most destitute person does not feel alone.

It is our hope that in allowing our students choice in reading over the summer, they will become more compassionate, empathetic, knowledgeable, and resilient in their own lives.