Reading Power Hosts Fun North Chicago Library Night
Reading Power’s annual North Chicago Public Library Night, held on April 10, was bursting with laughter! Students and families joined the Reading Power staff for a fun, magical night of literacy-related activities.
Executive Director, Rebecca Mullen, enthusiastically read Eric Carle’s classic storyThe Very HungryCaterpillarto over 70 North Chicago children and parents while balloon artist and magicianDave Evansmade the pages come alive with his skillful interpretations of the colorful food in this iconic book. Reading Power students and siblings proudly paraded the colorful and innovative balloon creations.
Students were enthralled by this interactive experience. Audience members, young and old, were instructed to make loud caterpillar-like chewing sounds, turning everyone into kids. North Chicago parent, April Robinson, described the evening as, “Awesome!” adding that her son and daughter “really loved it”. North Chicago resident, Victor Rios, who brought his nephews Noah and Fabricio said, “They should do this more often. This is good for everybody.” Reading Power’s lively evening theatricallydemonstrated that books and reading are irresistible.
“Literacy begins at home,” says Rebecca Mullen. “Simply reading to your child goes a long way. At Library Night, we share at-home literacy skills by modeling ways to read with your kids. We help them on their way to becoming lifelong readers.”
Reading Power is a literacy tutoring program for North Chicago students inkindergarten through 2nd grade. Their mission is to accelerate children’s literacy learning and to develop in them a love of reading and writing. At Library Night, children completed a book bag craft, enjoyed delicious refreshments, and took home gifts of books from Bernie’s Book Bank for their family. This family literacy night provided the opportunity for them to strengthen their relationship with books. Regardless of age, everyone ate up this unique literacy experience—just like the caterpillar.
Professionally led, utilizing research-based curricula, Reading Power is powered by 170 highly trained volunteers and has provided one-to-one tutoring to over 1600 students since 2003. The program is conducted in its own classroom in each of the five North Chicago elementary schools during the school day. Data indicates Reading Powerstudents make significant fluency gains annually, two to four times those of their non-tutored peers.In Reading,there is Power!
To learn more about Reading Power, a 501©3 non profit organization, and how to become a tutor or donor, visit its website: www. readingpowerinc.org .