Khloe Allain, of Rie’s Readers, took a seat at the front of K-2 Teacher Melissa Scannell’s class to read to the students. The book she read was one of a bundle donated to the school by the Flurries Unified All Stars nonprofit organization. (Photo Courtesy Southeastern Massachusetts Educational Collaborative)
DARTMOUTH — They delivered a live storytime and left a few stories behind.
Khloe Allain took a seat at the front of K-2 Teacher Melissa Scannell’s class, facing the students and holding a sack of story books.
Khloe, a 16-year-old Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School junior studying early childhood education, visited the Southeastern Massachusetts Educational Collaborative’s (SMEC) Therapeutic Learning Center (TLC) in Dartmouth, representing the Rie’s Readers program.
She and her uncle James Feliciano arrived with a special collection of children’s literature for the school.
The Rie’s Readers program was started by siblings Hannah Allain (Khloe’s mother) and James Feliciano, following the loss of their mother Marie Feliciano, a lifelong reader. She inspired the love of reading in the pair, so they launched Rie’s Readers to continue Marie’s legacy.
“We donate curated book bundles to local classrooms,” James Feliciano said. “In 2025-26, the bundle was selected from the SOMA Unified Young Readers List, which focuses on topics of inclusion, friendship and emotional health.”
The Rie’s Readers program is part of the local nonprofit Flurries Unified All Stars Inc. Feliciano said there are three core programs underneath the Flurries nonprofit umbrella: Flurries Cheerleading, Flutter Athletics and Rie’s Readers.
Flurries Cheerleading is a unified program supporting 35 athletes across two teams — the Flurries and Flurry Force. Flutter Athletics is a unified program currently wrapping up its 2026 Basketball season and includes 55 athletes. Their season ends with a community event called the Flutter Cup.
“With these three programs, we work to support and offer experiences for the special needs community in our region,” Feliciano said.
SMEC Student Services Director Kim Wilmot led Khloe and Feliciano to the K-2 classroom for a reading session. They passed the books around to each student, and the class voted on which book they wanted to hear read aloud.
The class chose Mo Willems’ “Can I Play, Too?” The story follows an elephant, a pig and a worm on an exciting and inclusive adventure.
“This was a very nice treat for us today,” Scannell announced after story time concluded.
The SMEC visit was Rie’s Readers’ seventh school visit and book donation of the school year.
“We are very grateful for organizations like the Flurries Unified All Stars and programs like Rie’s Readers,” said SMEC Executive Director Catherine Cooper. “The love of reading can take our students so far in life, and we should take advantage of every opportunity available to expose them to as much children’s literature as possible. These additions to our classroom libraries are incredibly valuable to our students’ overall learning experience.”
Click here for more information about the Flurries Unified All Stars and Rie’s Readers.
About SMEC
The Southeastern Massachusetts Educational Collaborative is a public education collaborative established in 1975. SMEC is an extension of 10 public school systems, which make up its membership. The present membership includes the Acushnet, Dartmouth, Fairhaven, Fall River, Marion, Mattapoisett, New Bedford, Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School, Rochester and Old Rochester Regional public school districts. SMEC accepts students for enrollment in its programs from school systems throughout Southeastern Massachusetts. The Collaborative’s programs and services are locally based and locally directed and are designed to supplement the special education resources of its member districts. SMEC offers a variety of services for students with special needs aged 3-21 as well as adults with developmental disabilities. To learn more about the Southeastern Massachusetts Educational Collaborative, visit smecollaborative.org.
###
Students in K-2 Teacher Melissa Scannell’s class were immediately taken by the books donated by the Rie’s Readers program last week. (Photo Courtesy Southeastern Massachusetts Educational Collaborative)
Khloe Allain read Mo Willems’ “Can I Play, Too?” to K-2 Teacher Melissa Scannell’s class in SMEC’s Therapeutic Learning Center in Dartmouth. (Photo Courtesy Southeastern Massachusetts Educational Collaborative)
James Feliciano, of Rie’s Readers, passed the new books out to each student. (Photo Courtesy Southeastern Massachusetts Educational Collaborative)
The students sat patiently and listened carefully to the storytime. (Photo Courtesy Southeastern Massachusetts Educational Collaborative)
Rie’s Readers dropped off a bundle of children’s literature for SMEC’s Therapeutic Learning Center in Dartmouth. (Photo Courtesy Southeastern Massachusetts Educational Collaborative)
Rie’s Readers also visited a SMEC classroom in Rochester. (Photo Courtesy Southeastern Massachusetts Educational Collaborative)
Rie’s Readers also visited a SMEC classroom in Rochester. (Photo Courtesy Southeastern Massachusetts Educational Collaborative)
Rie’s Readers also visited a SMEC classroom in Rochester. Khloe Allain read to the students and delivered another book bundle donation. (Photo Courtesy Southeastern Massachusetts Educational Collaborative)
Discover more from John Guilfoil Public Relations
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.