On the Same Page Boston: A Chapter-by-Chapter History

On the Same Page Boston: A Chapter-by-Chapter History

Written by: Sophia Lam, Emma Cooper, Julia Baldwin, Xintong Peng & Melody Wang 

An Era for Supporting Literacy in Boston Public Schools Through On the Same Page Boston

On The Same Page Boston's mission statement is that every child deserves the opportunity to be a part of a story. In 2019, the first inclusive and diverse student-run book campaign, run by Emerson College students, took place. To date, over 8,000 books have been donated to Boston Public Schools, and the campaign continues each semester.

Professor Cathryn Edelstein, Communication Studies Senior Executive-in-Residence and Director of the Nonprofit Communication Management Minor at Emerson College, is the Founder of On the Same Page Boston. While envisioning a way to foster inclusivity within Boston Public Schools, and after a conversation with BPS 5th-grade teacher Neil Harris, the idea of On the Same Page Boston was born. He confirmed that access to diverse books was almost nonexistent for his students at the Conley Elementary School in Roslindale. To provide access to diverse and inclusive books for the Conley School, she worked with students in her Nonprofit Fundraising Campaign course to create a campaign that led donors to a book wish list Neil Harris created.  

“We are creating a social justice and equity reading area in the Conley School Library because 80 percent of the students are people of color, [speak] different languages, [and have different] abilities, and cultural backgrounds. The [library] books don’t contain protagonists about families like theirs. And that’s how this campaign was born.” (Ertischek, 2019 — Emerson Today)

In its first semester, Spring 2019, On the Same Page Boston’s partnership with Neil Harris from the Conley Elementary School in Roslindale marked a strong beginning for the campaign. Providing persuasive content that lets the public know that children need to find themselves in the stories they read, I rendered approximately 465 books for students at Conley Elementary School. To raise awareness, Emerson students utilized social media platforms, designing engaging content, infographics as well as featuring diverse books to donate. Through these efforts, they aimed to ensure students had access to books and stories reflecting their identities and experiences. Harris shared, “It felt like Christmas every day for that month as books arrived for his students.”

From Vision to Impact: The Growth of Student Collaboration and Diversity during the COVID (2020) with New Mission High School & McCormack Middle School

New Mission High School 

Despite the chaos of the pandemic in the Spring of 2020, On the Same Page Boston created a virtual book campaign with and for New Mission High School (NMHS) students in Hyde Park, Massachusetts. Cory McCarthy, Vice Principal at NMHS, was an active partner during the creation of the campaign. COVID presented some challenges but also offered a unique opportunity to engage and include high school students as part of the campaign. NMHS students attended Nonprofit classes at Emerson regularly, and Emerson students videotaped their insights to share with the public during the campaign.  

McCarthy from NMHS shared this sentiment: “Being included, there’s no greater feeling as a human being. [...] And yes, you can find heroes and legends elsewhere, but finding them in a book just brings a unique and organic relationship with yourself and someone else. And it’s intimate because you’re not sharing when you read a book; it’s your book, it’s your reading, it’s your connection.” (Interview with C. McCarthy, Loughman, 2020—Emerson Today)  

In this campaign post, On the Same Page Boston shared statistics that reflect the diverse perspectives as well as human experiences from certain minority communities within the     Boston Public Schools. It was said that in 2018, from the School Library Journal article, there was a higher percentage of books centered around animals and characters that were represented as white than they did any form of diversity projected in the story.  The campaign ended with approximately 375 diverse and inclusive books donated to NMHS.

McCormack Middle School

The campaign began in person, with Emerson students in the classroom, but then everyone had to leave suddenly because of Covid. Emerson students, however, did not miss a beat, and although not physically together, they collaborated well while apart. The campaign teams met online and created content that voiced the need for McCormack students to obtain diverse and inclusive books. While in-person classes were canceled for students at McCormack Middle School, Avashia arranged for students to come to the school’s parking lot to borrow some of the over 360 donated books. 

McCormack Middle School teacher Neema Avashia, excited to partner with On the Same Page Boston, shared, "Buy books for McCormack students! This campaign with On the Same Page is focused on purchasing books that affirm, uplift, and amplify the stories of young people from diverse communities. If you remember the feeling you had when you first read a book that felt like home to you, you’ll know exactly why this is so, so important." (Avashia, 2020)

The Campaign Continues: Excel High School and the Thomas Edison K-8 School (2021)

Excel High School

In Spring 2021, On the Same Page Boston partnered with BPS teacher Josie Glausen at Excel High School in South Boston. Like many schools in the Greater Boston area, Excel High School serves an incredibly diverse student body, and, as such, “More than 50% of our teachers have two teaching licenses, one in their subject area and the other in either special education or English as a Second Language (ESL)” (Excel Website). The students working with On the Same Page Boston sought to provide this diverse student body with equally diverse and representative books. The campaign ran from March 2, 2021, through April 23, 2021, with students from Excel High School participating in creating campaign messaging alongside Emerson College students. Professor Edelstein promoted the campaign on iHeartRadio! In an interview with an Emerson alum, WBZ news reporter Nichole Davis explained the history of the campaign and called for listeners to donate books featuring diverse voices and perspectives. By the end of the semester, 450 books had been donated to Excel High School and its students. 

Thomas Edison K-8 School

Later that year, during the Fall 2021 semester, On the Same Page Boston began its year-long partnership with the Thomas Edison K-8 School. Much like Excel High School, the Thomas Edison K-8 School had a racially and economically diverse student body. According to the school, “Students and their families come from over 60 different countries and speak more than 20 different languages. 83% of the student body qualify for free and reduced priced lunch” (Thomas Edison K-8 Website). Additionally, approximately 22% of students have special needs, and about 21% are English Language learners (Thomas Edison K-8 Website). Working in close partnership with teachers Olivia Samuel and Kawana McKoy, the Thomas Edison K-8 School was able to build and supply its first library, allowing students to extend their love of reading outside school hours! In just over a month, Thomas Edison K-8 received over 400 new books to enjoy. 

2022 - Spring, Edison School and Fall, Samuel Adams Elementary School

Edison School

In Spring 2022, Emerson's Nonprofit class continued its work with Thomas Edison K-8 School to continue collecting books for its first library. This time, gently-used age-appropriate books were donated to the school. Tatte Bakery and Cafe, the Oak Street YMCA, Cafe Mirror and Emerson College hosted donation bins. 1800 books were donated. Securing a partnership with Tatte Bakery and Cafe worked to make this a successful campaign. All Boston area Cafes collected books, and Tatte delivered the books directly to the Edison School. 

The enthusiastic participation and dedication of Emerson students, along with ongoing community support, have been essential in reaching these accomplishments. In recognition of these efforts, the students of CC316 Nonprofit Fundraising Campaigns received the Civic and Community Engagement Award from Emerson College School of Communication. OTSPB continues its mission, committed to providing valuable educational resources and creating a positive impact for Boston’s young learners. 

Photo: Civic and Community Engagement Award/Class with Professor Edelstein, Chair, Dr. Payne, and SOC Dean Reis. 

Samuel Adams Elementary School

In Spring 2022, On the Same Page Boston partnered with teacher Courtney Mulherin at the Adams Elementary School in East Boston. According to its website, “Samuel Adams Elementary School is a public, magnet school located in East Boston. It has 249 students in PK, K-6 grades, with a student-teacher ratio of 9 to 1. According to state test scores, 22% of students are at least proficient in math and 32% in reading. To provide an incentive to read by allowing students to see themselves in books, Mulherin curated a list of diverse and inclusive books for students at the school. OTSPB team members then created a campaign appealing to the public to donate these books. Students in Edelstein’s course were almost as excited as the Adams students, as two shared in a Beacon article: “When we’re students, especially undergrads, we don’t have a lot of experience with people outside the classroom,” Spear said. She added that she loves how interactive and relevant the class is to the Boston community,” and “Individuals outside the classroom can support On the Same Page Boston by sharing the campaign’s social media posts or donating books via their website.” Orifice said. (Berkley Beacon, November 2022) Approximately 450 new books were donated during this campaign. 

Emerson students in Nonprofit Fundraising Campaigns launched the OTSPB campaign during the Global Communication Pre-Conference Summit at Emerson College. 

2023 

Campaigns: Samuel Adams Elementary School and the Henderson School

In Spring 2023, On the Same Page Boston further strengthened its partnership with Samuel Adams Elementary School in East Boston by launching a community book drive initiative. The campaign, originally designed to provide new books from wish lists curated by teachers, has also collected gently used books for the schools. This year, the campaign’s partner, teacher Courtney Mulherin from the Adams Elementary School in East Boston, requested that gently used board games be collected as well. She believes her students, many of whom are children of nonnative English speakers, will enjoy playing games while improving their language and literacy skills. Books and games collected are made available for the students to bring home to share with parents and siblings. Thirteen Boston Tatte Bakery and Cafés along with Mamaleh’s Delicatessen in Cambridge participated. This is the second year that Tatte joined OTSPB.  “More than 40% of students in Boston’s public schools don’t have a library in their building” (Bay State Banner, Miller, 2021), and Adams Elementary School is among these. According to the teachers, “This substantial contribution significantly enriched the school's library resources while fostering inclusive educational and recreational opportunities. Faculty members observed palpable enthusiasm as students explored the donated materials, with numerous children quickly discovering stories and characters that resonated with their diverse cultural experiences.” 

Fall of 2023 Campaign and Formal Launch Event

In Fall 2023, On the Same Page Boston was recognized by the City of Boston and the Superintendent of Boston Public Schools. The launch event took place in the Transportation Building, with over 60 people in attendance. According to an article published by Emerson Today:

The campaign kicked off with a launch on Oct. 17, an event made all the more special because for the first time, it was attended by Superintendent of Boston Public Schools Mary Skipper, Cory McCarthy, deputy chief of student services for Boston Public Schools, and President Jay Bernhardt.

Skipper praised the Emerson community for the book campaign, particularly in the post-pandemic period.  “It is helping us with a critical part of our mission, as we take on the work of bringing literacy back,” she said. “Teaching kids to love to read, to pick that – I can’t say enough about that." (Emerson Today, On the Same Page Boston Launches 2023 Diverse Book Collection Project, October 18, 2023)

On The Same Page Boston (OTSPB) expanded its outreach by partnering with Literacy Specialist, Kelly McDermott, at the Henderson Inclusion School in Dorchester. The Henderson is a fully inclusive K–12 institution within Boston Public Schools (BPS). With an enrollment of over 850 students, many of whom navigate physical, cognitive, and language-based disabilities, Henderson became the beneficiary of OTSPB’s mission to foster representation and accessibility through literature.

Building on past success, the initiative included a curated diverse book wish list with a campaign approach that featured the need for children’s books to contain stories about ALL children. Donors across Massachusetts and beyond responded to the inclusive campaign with over 450 books featuring children of all abilities. 

Throughout the planning phase, Emerson College students collaborated closely with Henderson’s faculty and administrators to align book selections with the school’s pedagogical priorities. Many educators emphasized the need for language-supportive materials tailored to students with speech and literacy challenges. As Suzy-Jane Wilson, a senior Creative Writing major, noted, “This wasn’t just about learning disabilities—it was about breaking down physical and linguistic barriers. That mindset guided every choice we made.”

 “These resources amplify our commitment to ensuring every student has access to engaging, representative, and developmentally appropriate texts,” said Joseph Cahill, Henderson’s Director of Instruction for Grades 2–5. Since 2022, BPS has allocated $8.25 million to this initiative, reinforcing its pledge to mirror students’ identities in the literature they encounter.

In 2024, On the Same Page Boston Continued its Mission

Spring 2024 Campaign

In the Spring of 2024, the partnership with the Henderson Inclusion School continued, this time through a used book donation drive. The campaign culminated in sending 600 books to the school. For the first time, Professor Edelstein’s class worked in collaboration with Kirsten Whitten’s Introduction to Public Relations class to bring more exposure to the campaign. The Public Relations course held a pop-up event in the 2 Boylston Place alley to make more Emerson students aware of the campaign in a fun and upbeat way. Additionally, Edelstein introduced the concept of a collateral team for the campaign, which would continue to exist in subsequent semesters.  Students on this team were tasked with reviewing the work of the other campaign team members, giving them leadership and editing experience. 

In a Berkley Beacon article, Nonprofit Campaigns student Isabelle Montez shared:

“Reading has been so fundamental for me, and being able to see that representation is just super exciting. Being a minority and seeing diversity and inclusion in the books we’re selecting for future generations is really my biggest takeaway,” Montez said. 

Berkeley Beacon. Bringing books and hearts together: On the Same Page Boston

By Feixu Chen, April 10, 2024

Fall of 2024 Campaign

The Fall 2024 campaign continued the theme of partnering with schools in Dorchester, this time partnering with librarian Deborah Foley from the Mather Elementary School, the oldest public elementary school in the United States. The campaign focused on getting new books into the hands of BPS students. To accomplish this, donors were told they could send books to the school by purchasing from an Amazon wish list curated by the Mather School’s librarian, Deborah Foley. As the Mather School is also the only BPS bilingual Vietnamese school, the wish list featured books in both English and Vietnamese, emphasizing diversity in the hopes that books represented all identities. The campaign’s efforts resulted in the donation of 380 books. Professor Edelstein and a group of her students visited the Mather Elementary School and read to the children at the end of the campaign. 

Current Campaign/Spring 2025

March 20th, 2025, was the launch of the Spring 2025 Campaign. Featured as part of the launch party was a photobooth area, a table to write inspirational messages to Mather School students, and a bookmark creation area. Students from two other classes were invited to celebrate the launch. This campaign is asking donors to drop off gently used books at any Massachusetts Tatte Bakery and Cafe. This is the first time Tatte has offered to include all of its cafes; as in the past, only Boston locations were involved. An individual donor has already contacted the team and has dropped 600 books off at Mather Elementary School.

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Looking Ahead: The Future of On the Same Page Boston

On The Same Page Boston will continue, and with each new team of students, it will expand its reach while staying true to its mission. Ensuring that every BPS student has access to books that reflect their identity and experiences is key. What began as an effort for every child to gain access to books has become an effort to provide books with diversity, equity, and representation. 

This 2025 Spring semester marks a significant moment for the campaign, as Professor Cathryn Edelstein, who created On the Same Page Boston, will retire in May from Emerson College and pass leadership to Professor Niko Emack. Under his guidance, a new campaign will begin in Fall 2025. The campaign is set to continue expanding its reach with a different school each year for students to advocate for diverse storytelling in their education. 

While this chapter closes for Professor Edelstein, the heart of On the Same Page Boston will carry her vision, built through the belief that every child deserves to see themselves through the stories they read. The campaign is more than a project for Emerson Students and faculty; it is a promise to future generations that all voices will be heard and respected.

At its core, On the Same Page Boston's mission is, “everyone deserves the opportunity to be part of a story.” In parting, Professor Edelstein shares, “I created the Nonprofit Minor for the Communication Studies Department knowing that our students were interested in the intersection between Communication and the Nonprofit Sector. Along with learning how to run a campaign, students learn grant writing and creating crowdfunding campaigns. On the Same Page Boston was created so that my students could learn how to run a digital campaign while also having a positive impact on BPS students. I believe we have succeeded with my goals, and I am thrilled that Niko Emack will take over as the course teacher and the leader of this endeavor. I will watch from the sidelines and support Niko and the campaign after my retirement.”