Read It Again!
| Marie Beletti details the adventures of Dora the Explorer. |
A DuPont Public Affairs team and precocious preschoolers share the joy of reading through United Way's Days of Caring.
The Public Affairs (PA) team recently made a difference by participating in the Read Aloud Delaware program at the Kingswood Community Center in Wilmington, Del.
Read Aloud Delaware promotes reading to children as a way to encourage a love of books and a desire to become a reader. Kingswood partners with Read Aloud Delaware to assist in maintaining developmentally sound child care programs for its community.
"The doors of learning are opened through the gift of reading," said Anthony Farina, director of Global Public Affairs. "Reading and writing are critical lifelong skill sets, especially in communications. The Public Affairs team believes it is important to further encourage children to read, so the Wilmington-area PA team collaborated with Read Aloud Delaware. We hope to emulate the partnership model with other reading associations in other parts of the world, since two-thirds of the global PA team is based outside the U.S."
"Reading to this group of 4-year-olds reminded me of how much I enjoyed reading to my own two sons as they were learning to read," said Rick Straitman. "They hang on every word and allow themselves to be transported into the story. They display their joy without reservation. Some children never have this experience at home, so it's vital that they are exposed to books in preschool."
"Our group was paired with a dynamic, local storyteller and it reminded us how fun and educational stories can be for young children," said Tara Stewart. "We enjoyed the opportunity to engage with the students and staff. They taught us a few things, as well."
In the past year, 988 volunteers read almost 54,000 times to more than 7,280 individual children through the Read Aloud Delaware program. Many of these interactions were the result of DuPont employees participating in Days of Caring.
Wilmington-area PA team members who read at Kingswood were: Marie Beletti, Karen Browne, Lori Captain, Louise Downes, Anthony Farina, Mary Ellen Koval, Mike Hanretta, Kirsten Mucha, Tara Stewart, Rick Straitman, Stephanie Wiley and Patti Walters.
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