New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
New Haven students get into reading spirit
NEW HAVEN — The Cat in the Hat, Harry Potter, Luffy, Wednesday Addams and Princess Anna were in the house at Barack Obama University Magnet School Friday morning.
Students and teachers were getting in the reading spirit, dressing up as their favorite fictional characters to celebrate the culmination of a weeklong Read Across America program in which more than 250 volunteers from the Yale New Haven Health System read for students at 12 schools across seven area towns.
“I got 10 years younger when I walked in here this morning,” said Dr. Keith Churchwell, president of Yale New Haven Hospital.
The reading sessions in the New Haven area are an annual tradition United Way of Greater New Haven hosts every year. This time, the group also donated nearly 800 children’s books to all participating schools.
Jennifer Heath, president and CEO of the organization, said this was the first year since the COVID-19 pandemic began that the reading week was held fully in-person. In fact, she said the last session without the public health disrupting was in March 2020 at this exact school.
“I remember being in this space and talking to people about what’s this virus and what are you hearing and what do you think’s going to happen,” she said. “And then everything closed up.”
The reading sessions were fully remote in 2021, and last year were conducted in a hybrid manner.
“It’s great,” she said of the inperson program’s return. “This is one of the most fun days because you get to be in the schools, you get to interact with kids, you get to read children’s books and people just love it.”
One of those people was Nick Proto, a volunteer from the health system. He has three adult children so he said it had been a while since he got to do something like this.
“I miss this,” said Proto, who read “Mae Among The Stars,” “The Color Monster” and “The Rabbit Listened” to first-graders.
Proto, who has volunteered at previous events, said his favorite part is hearing kids laugh and seeing them smile. It was a way for him to give back to the community, he said.
Asked for his strategies to get children engaged, Proto said joking and laughing around. “I’m looking forward to making some of the animal sounds,” he said.
Adrianna Leoni, New Haven Public Schools’ literacy instructional coach, said the schools encouraged students to dress up as their favorite characters as a way to “see books as something that’s fun.”
“They can see themselves as a part of the book because when you’re reading, you become part of that book and you can put yourself in a character’s shoes,” said Leon, who dressed up as a character named Corduroy. “You might not ever travel out of New Haven, but a book can take you to another place.”
Heath said having an interactive reading session is one of the best ways to help young students build vocabulary and develop a love of learning.
“To be able to come in and do that as a guest reader, I think brings a little extra excitement for them,” Heath said, noting students also get a chance to be exposed to books they haven’t read before.
For those reading to the children, Heath said volunteering has been proven to have myriad benefits and is a good way for them to spend their time.
“It helps your physical health and mental health,” she said. “It helps your sense of connection to your community so I think volunteers get all of those benefits. Plus, everyone loves interacting with the kids.”