District attorney delivers books to Dorchester first-grade class

By Alli Knothe, Globe Correspondent

Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley broke from his usual routine and delivered books to a first-grade class at Marshall Elementary School in Dorchester this morning.

“It’s a way to introduce ourselves to the younger members of the community,” said district attorney’s spokesman Jake Wark.

Each of the 22 students will be getting copies of a book in the Magic Tree House series, written by Mary Pope Osborne.

The district attorney’s staff has been visiting Kerline Beazer’s class weekly to read to the children since the beginning of the school year. Wark said the plan is to continue with the students at least until they finish second-grade.

This is the first reading program the office has been involved in. They also visit schools to teach students about Internet safety and how to stop bullying, Wark said.

“The underlying theory is that kids with books in the home are kids that are going to read them,” he said. “Children that are reading earlier in life are more likely to stay out of trouble and stay healthy.”

He said it is just another way the office hopes to build trust between law enforcement and the community.