Nicklas Lidstrom Vice President of Hockey Operations | Detroit Red Wings Website
Nicklas Lidstrom Vice President of Hockey Operations | Detroit Red Wings Website
Marco Kasper, a forward for the Detroit Red Wings, visited New Glazer Academy in Detroit as part of the 2025 Red Wings for Reading Program. This initiative is organized by the Detroit Red Wings Foundation and aims to promote literacy among K-5 students across Michigan by encouraging them to read more both at school and home.
During his visit, Kasper read "Dino-Hockey," a book by Michigan author Lisa Wheeler, to second graders. He engaged with the students by answering their questions and assisting them in choosing new books at the school's book fair. "Reading is really important," Kasper stated to DetroitRedWings.com. "It develops your language and social skills."
Kasper expressed enthusiasm about his involvement with the program, noting that interacting with children through fun activities like imagining dinosaurs playing hockey helps foster interest in reading and sports. “It’s awesome coming here,” he said. “All the kids asking fun questions, teaching them about hockey in a fun way... It’s always fun to come to schools and read to kids.”
The Red Wings for Reading Program collaborates with United Way for Southeastern Michigan's "My Home Library" initiative, providing sets of five free books to students in Southeast Michigan communities lacking access to reading materials. On Friday alone, around 200 students at New Paradigm Glazer received 1,000 books.
This year's program will benefit a total of 600 students across three school visits, distributing 3,000 books overall. Kasper also participated in launching this year's program at Madison Elementary School in Madison Heights on November 26.
A highlight for Kasper during these visits is engaging directly with students through Q&A sessions. “You can give better answers to the kids because the media always gets the same answers from us hockey players,” he remarked. “There’s a lot of fun, different questions and it’s always cool.”
For further details about the Red Wings for Reading Program, interested parties are encouraged to seek additional information online.
Alerts Sign-up