Decades-old Reading Program Boosts More Than Students’ Love of Reading

The Best Foot Forward (BFF) program at Moffett Elementary School in the Huntington Beach City School District is a voluntary, incentivized reading program intended to foster “a lifetime love of reading” in students.

But it offers more than reps in reading. It also provides what many school communities crave: connection.

Here’s how it works: students in grades kindergarten through fifth can make daily visits to the BFF room, a brightly-decorated portable at the back of the campus in Huntington Beach. The room is stocked with hundreds of books for all ages. Moffett students can check out and take home at least one new BFF book each week.

BFF is optional and separate from the school’s library. But here’s what makes it different: once a student finishes a BFF book, they return to the portable to talk about what they’ve read during an in-person interview with a BFF volunteer.

A successful interview demonstrates a student’s reading comprehension and can earn participants points redeemable for incentives and prizes—think candy, gift certificates, posters, and more. The ultimate award goes to students who read 100 BFF books during the school year: a gold medal and recognition during an end-of-year assembly on campus.

“We just believe that if you learn to read, you can learn to be anything,” Andrea Gledhill, a parent volunteer and co-leader of BFF for the 2025-26 school year, told Spotlight Schools. “The kids love the program,” she said. Some students are reading one BFF book a day. 

“I think it’s a really fun reading program,” Moffett student Jules Prelesnik said when she returned a book from “The Baby-Sitters Club” series she had just completed. She was hoping to win a “Stranger Things” poster with her BFF points. Parker, another BFF participant, had this to say about the program: “It’s good working toward a goal and it helps me read way better.”

BFF is funded and staffed by Moffett’s Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and Gledhill estimates it's about 30 years old. It has an annual budget of about $8,000 for books and prizes and requires around two dozen volunteers to run daily, according to Gledhill. During a visit to Moffett last school year, I saw the magic of the BFF volunteers in action.

Several women helped eager readers find books, reshelved novels and nonfiction titles, and quizzed students about what they had read. The interview portion was the most compelling. Students engaged with caring adults, made eye contact and exchanged pleasantries about their day before the interview began. 

“The whole goal is to really instill a love of reading,” said Valentine Tran, a frequent BFF volunteer and parent of two students. But she added, “It’s also about preserving human connection in a digital world by practicing conversation.” In this way, BFF also serves as a social skills program. The interviews might serve as training for a future job interview, Gledhill suggested.

'The relationships here are so important'

Moffett Principal Michelle Brady praised the volunteers during a tour of the BFF portable in January. “They do such an amazing job,” she said. “There is something to be said about the connectedness [of BFF]. The relationships here are so important. Here is one more person that [students] can connect with. … It really benefits kids.” 

Principal Brady said while it hasn’t been studied formally, she believes the BFF program is also boosting students’ academic achievement. “I would argue this definitely influences our success in language arts,” she said, citing it as another way to motivate kids to read and a different avenue to showcase reading comprehension. In 2025, Moffett saw 72% of its students meeting or exceeding state standards in English/language arts, according to EdSource. The statewide average was 49% in 2025.

BFF is also compatible with the Accelerated Reader program used in classrooms. Books read in the digital reading platform can also be counted toward BFF points. "We want to be supplementary to what's going on in class," Gledhill said.

BFF is increasing its own numbers. According to Gledhill, in the 2024-25 school year, 34% of kids in BFF got 50 to 100 or more points. In the 2025-26 school year, 67% of kids reached that level.

This past school year, Gledhill and the other BFF volunteers made changes they hoped would increase participation. They selected a Super Mario Bros. theme for the program and were very intentional about the rewards. “[By] gamifying reading and having incentives that kids love, it is possible to increase reading throughout all grades,” Gledhill wrote in an email at the end of the year.

'A happy and positive place'

In addition to the benefits for the kids, BFF also provides a sense of connection for the many volunteers.

“We love being in here,” volunteer and co-leader of BFF Ceara Ingram shared, describing it as an easy entry point for parents to help out on campus. “You get to know so many students... It’s just so important to make those connections.”

“I just love the kids,” said Alexsis Sossaman, a BFF volunteer and parent of two boys. “They brighten my day.” Sossaman also thinks BFF creates another opportunity for connection with her own kids at home. She shared that she always asks what BFF book her son is reading. “It creates a conversation that we wouldn’t otherwise get.”

Perhaps it's not the primary aim of BFF, but in addition to connecting students with books and the benefits of reading, it’s also connecting kids with caring adults and parents with one another.

"Being in here is just amazing," Ingram said of being part of the BFF community. "It's a happy and positive place."

BFF is always looking for volunteers. Find out more about the program here.