Shorecrest Hosts 4th Annual Black Authors Read-In

For four years running, Shorecrest has hosted an annual Black Authors Read-In during Black History Month in February. Championed by Upper School English Teacher and 10th Grade Dean Heather Elouej, the event is part of a nationwide initiative that encourages communities to read together, centering around African American books and authors. This year's event was held at Shorecrest on Friday, February 14 and featured 99 readers including students, faculty and staff reading 132 works from 75 authors. 

The 2025 Black Authors Read-In at Shorecrest was held in the Weiss Family Pavilion at the heart of the Shorecrest campus throughout the day on Valentine's Day. Groups of students, faculty, staff and families came by to read or to listen to works by a variety of black authors, including two Shorecrest student authors reading their own work, Destiny Calhoun '28 and Khali Cameron '28. 

Event facilitator Heather Elouej shared, "Thanks to Casey Giroud for her incredible curation of provided texts; to Eric Johnson for sound system set-up and break-down; to Cole Oman '26 for photographing the event; to the teachers who encouraged student participation and the students who read their own writing; to Mrs. Jacqueline Sheppard's first grade class for listening so intently; to Diana Muzzarelli '27 and Kaelie Deiter '26 who read so animatedly to the littles; and to the group of staff, students, and faculty who helped to keep the ball rolling throughout the day."

Established in 1990 by the Black Caucus of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), the National African American Read-In (AARI) was intended to make literacy a significant part of Black History Month. Since then, the initiative has reached more than six million participants worldwide. Shorecrest has hosted an annual Black Authors Read-In since 2022. 

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