Helping Kids Spring into Reading

Author: Andrea LaRocca

Spring has once again arrived in Middlebury, but instead of just bringing flowers, it has brought something a little different this year: books. On Sunday afternoon, Middlebury College students and Addison County children celebrated reading at "Spring Into Literacy."
Spring Into Literacy was the third incarnation of the annual Page 1 Literacy reading carnival. The purpose of the event was, as Page 1 president Angela Schluchter '03 said, "to increase the student body's commitment to literacy by collaboratively putting on a celebration of reading and writing for the children of Addison County." With the new co-sponsorship by MIX, the carnival's goals also included fostering awareness about cultural diversity.
The carnival consisted of a dozen "book stations," each of which was sponsored by a student organization and each of which featured a specific book, a theme from that book and an activity linked to that theme.
The books ranged from classics like "Where the Wild Things Are" to new favorites like "Harry Potter."
Likewise, the accompanying activities varied from making pasta necklaces at the "Strega Nona" booth to making popsicle-and-string spider webs at the "Charlotte's Web" booth.
MIX also sponsored a booth that featured Africa in "Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters" and a booth that featured China in "The Moon Lady." Activities accompanying these booths included making paper lanterns and origami. Visitors could sample food from around the world.
"The children took a journey to Africa and to China with two of MIX's booths and then they traveled to even more countries with cultural dishes ranging from Japanese California rolls to American macaroni and cheese," MIX President Dena Simmons '05 said.
Young community members were also able to travel to new worlds of fiction during the carnival's three story times. About every hour, children and their parents were invited into the "castle" - a transformed McCullough stage - to listen to guests like Professor of Political Science Paul Nelson, the faculty head of Brainerd Commons, read aloud one of the featured books.
MIX again incorporated cultural diversity into the story times by inviting Anna Rita Pergolizzi '04 to read a Russian story aloud.
Other entertainment included The Costanza Experience and Womens' Mmchakamchaka. The biggest hit, however, was undoubtedly the surprise appearance of Clifford the Big Red Dog. Denise Leung '05 came dressed as Clifford and spent the afternoon talking to the awed children. One of the younger children in attendance, a three-year-old named Sean, could hardly contain himself when he saw Clifford walk into the room: "Dog! Dog! Dog! Dog!" he yelled.
Sean wasn't alone in his enthusiasm. Of the 50 children, aged two to 14, in attendance, it seemed that almost all had a good time. As a six-year-old Allison from St. Mary's school put it, "I like everything here the best because it is all the bestest." Several of the parents also commented on how pleased they were with the carnival and the college students - many of them referred to both as "exceeding expectations."
Middlebury students had an equally positive experience.
"This is a great thing for kids, and it also gives Middlebury students a chance to interact with the community at large," Susanna Gorski '05.5 said. "And better still, we get to be kids again for the afternoon!"
By Page 1's standards, these reactions mean that the carnival was a success.
"I definitely think that Spring into Literacy was a success thanks to the amazing contribution of various on-campus student organizations. McCullough Social Space looked amazing, and all the kids that attended had a really great time, so I think that in the future they will be more motivated to pick up one of the children's classics we featured at the carnival," Schluhter summed up.
MIX and Page 1 opened up new worlds for Addison County children this weekend.