Reading Fun at Moreno Valley Mall

On Saturday March 8th, 3rd graders and their families gathered at the Moreno Valley Mall to celebrate reading literacy. “Journey Through Reading, Imagine the Possibilities” was the name of the event which was put together by the Moreno Valley Unified School District (MVUSD). The event aimed to encourage children to read daily and make reading a fun event. There were several events scheduled throughout the day including; a school band, choir, Folklorica dancers, a modern dance team, and a photo booth with Dr. Seuss’s Thing 1 and Thing 2. Ashley Weissenbach, an event volunteer from Think Together, which provides after-school services to kids in the Inland Empire came to help out. At her booth, kids were reading books and then drawing pictures of what they read. The pictures were then taped together to create a quilt. When asked how the turnout has been she replied, “we’ve had hundreds of kids, and they have been engaged with the event and excited in the activities and participating.” There were many kids who stopped by to take a look at the books and to draw. Moreno Valley resident Leonardo Ibarra, was there with his son, Steven, 6, and daughter, Linda, 7. He shares, the event "is really good because my kids will learn more and they enjoy books, I try to explain to them, the more you read, the more you learn.” His two kids shared that they were enjoying the event, and said that their favorite books are, “Skippy John Jones” and “Junie B. Jones”. Elyse Salter brought her kids and shared, “it’s fantastic, we’ve had a blast and she loves reading and it’s definitely gotten her excited.” There were several organizations and businesses who supported the event, one of them was the Mcgraw-Hill Group. Chris Salazar, who works for the Mcgraw-Hill Group said, “we’re here to support the community and to give the kids free books, a lot of people don’t have money to buy books so it’s good for them, we want to make sure that everyone who attends leaves with a free book.” Gracie Sanchez, a Moreno Valley resident, was present with her daughter getting a free book. After being asked what her daughter thought about the event she said, “yes, she’s enjoying it so far, it’s good motivation for them to read and to continue reading. They should do this more often!” Moreno Valley Superintendent Dr. Judy White has been hosting events like this one for 12 years throughout the District. She shares that it is important because she wants to involve the community in recognition that reading is important in the 3rd grade and wanted to recognize the kids advancing to the 4th grade. Every third grader who came received a certificate and a gift bag which included books. At the end, there were raffle prizes given out students who visited the different stations set up in the mall. It was a day filled with reading, visiting booths, picture-taking, and free books.