Students at Southampton Middle School were encouraged to “think big” Wednesday at the opening of the newest Ben Carson Reading Room.

The jungle-themed room, located in the school’s media center, is an escape for students to comfortably read books. It is decorated more like a family room than a library. The chairs are cozy, the bookshelves look like ones you would have in your own home, and the lamps and decorations create a feeling of relaxation and comfort.

“It’s wonderful to see this sanctuary in the midst of this bustling school. The Reading Room’s success is a guarantee,” Judy Fida, the reading room coordinator for Southampton Middle School, told Patch. “I hope the students think big and get inspired and motivated to read. I hope they find themselves lost in books.” 

Johns Hopkins Pediatric Neurosurgeon, Dr. Benjamin Carson, and his wife, Candy, created the Carson Scholars Fund in 1994. One of its initiatives is the Ben Carson Reading Project. According to its website, “The primary purpose of the program is to provide funding and support to local schools so they can create a nurturing environment for children to feel safe and secure as they develop their reading skills.”

The Ben Carson Reading Room in Southampton Middle School is dedicated to Tony Fida, Judy Fida’s late husband. The couple created a relationship with Dr. Ben Carson during Tony Fida’s time as a patient at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Southampton Middle School is the eighth Harford County public school to receive a Ben Carson Reading Room, and the ninth room sponsored by Louis and Phyllis Friedman of Stack & Store Mini Storage. There are now 58 Ben Carson Reading Rooms in seven states.

Students, parents, faculty and staff of Southampton Middle School contributed to the creation of the room. Science teacher, Bill Carpenter, said it is a “collaboration of many, many, many different people who lent their skills and their abilities, their time, their talents, their insights, their inspiration, to allow us to collectively think big.”

After describing in a recorded video message how he was picked on as a child, Dr. Ben Carson urged students to follow his philosophy of “thinking big” at Southampton Middle School.

“I challenge each and every one of you to do your very best, and I encourage you to read everyday,” Carson said, “and to always think big.”