Matt Lawrence, former NFL player and Bloomfield native gets students lined up for a relay race at Carmen Arace School in Bloomfield on Monday, Feb. 26, 2024. The Connecticut Education Foundation and the Bloomfield Education Association kicked off the weeklong Read Across Connecticut literacy event with games from former professional and college players to encourage students to pick up a book and read. (Aaron Flaum/Hartford Courant)
Matt Lawrence, former NFL player and Bloomfield native races a student to the finish line during a relay race at Carmen Arace School in Bloomfield on Monday, Feb. 26, 2024. The Connecticut Education Foundation and the Bloomfield Education Association kicked off the weeklong Read Across Connecticut literacy event with games from former professional and college players to encourage students to pick up a book and read. (Aaron Flaum/Hartford Courant)
Seventh grader Sheldon Britton 14, tosses the football during a relay race at Carmen Arace School in Bloomfield on Monday, Feb. 26, 2024. The Connecticut Education Foundation and the Bloomfield Education Association kicked off the weeklong Read Across Connecticut literacy event with games from former professional and college players to encourage students to pick up a book and read. (Aaron Flaum/Hartford Courant)
CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats Dexter Lawson Jr. talks to seventh and eighth grade students at Carmen Arace School in Bloomfield on Monday, Feb. 26, 2024. The Connecticut Education Foundation and the Bloomfield Education Association kicked off the weeklong Read Across Connecticut literacy event with games from former professional and college players to encourage students to pick up a book and read. (Aaron Flaum/Hartford Courant)
Matt Lawrence, former NFL player and Bloomfield native gets students lined up for a relay race at Carmen Arace School in Bloomfield on Monday, Feb. 26, 2024. The Connecticut Education Foundation and the Bloomfield Education Association kicked off the weeklong Read Across Connecticut literacy event with games from former professional and college players to encourage students to pick up a book and read. (Aaron Flaum/Hartford Courant)
Matt Lawrence, former NFL player and Bloomfield native films a race during a relay race at Carmen Arace School in Bloomfield on Monday, Feb. 26, 2024. The Connecticut Education Foundation and the Bloomfield Education Association kicked off the weeklong Read Across Connecticut literacy event with games from former professional and college players to encourage students to pick up a book and read. (Aaron Flaum/Hartford Courant)
Matt Lawrence, former NFL player and Bloomfield native gets students lined up for a relay race at Carmen Arace School in Bloomfield on Monday, Feb. 26, 2024. The Connecticut Education Foundation and the Bloomfield Education Association kicked off the weeklong Read Across Connecticut literacy event with games from former professional and college players to encourage students to pick up a book and read. (Aaron Flaum/Hartford Courant)
ExpandMatt Lawrence, former NFL player and Bloomfield native and CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats Dexter Lawson Jr. helps The Connecticut Education Foundation and the Bloomfield Education Association kick off the weeklong celebration of reading, with football stars, and fun activities to hundreds of middle school students in Bloomfield, to encourage them to pick up a book and read.