Westcoast Connection Connects Again!

"I loved helping the kids develop a passion for reading. Making connections with the kids was really special. The two (preschool) girls I spent time with were teaching me the words in the book in their first language, Vietnamese. I had so much fun learning with them and I think they had a good time reading with me too! Showing them how much fun reading can be really made me feel good about myself."

Imagine a roomful of preschool children giggling as a teenage girl wearing a kerchief and worn mu'umu'u, acting out a scene from the children’s picture book The Mightiest, shrieks, “Oh my, you scared the daylights out of me!” when a ‘bear’ jumps out at her, trying to win a crown labeled for "the mightiest" with his scare tactics.

In fact, this is exactly what happened during seven performances July 8 and 9 at Waikiki Community Early Education Center, Angels at Play Preschool, and University of Hawaii-Manoa Children’s Center, where Westcoast Connection, a group of 18 10th to 12th graders and three supervisors from the mainland and Canada, held storybook performances geared towards getting keiki excited about the promise of reading and reading aloud. All together, over 130 preschoolers giggled, gasped and sat in awe, then enjoyed special one-on-one read alouds with the volunteers.

Read To Me International (RTMI) first partnered with Westcoast Connection two summers ago – then, the group made storybook aprons and visited Onemalu Transitional Housing in Kapolei and the Weinberg Village in Waimanalo. (See archived articles in The Read to Me Planet Spring/Summer 2008 issue.)

This year, RTMI was requested by Westcoast Connection for another project, July 7th through 9th. The teen volunteers spent a day and a half preparing storybook performances, including creating props, settings and costumes on a shoestring budget; performance coaching; and dress rehearsals. They were led by Stephanie Conching, soon-to-be Maryknoll third-grade teacher—having just transferred from being performing arts high school teacher—who was so generous as to devote two days of her summer break to RTMI.

They performed four picture books, including The Mightiest by Keiko Kasza as well as The Frog Prince, Continued by Jon Sczieska, The Very Cranky Bear by Nick Bland, and Chickens to the Rescue by John Himmelman. After the performances, volunteers split off for one-on-one read alouds with the preschoolers. They also spent time at Waikiki Community Center helping to prepare materials and supplies for the new school year.

In these three days of their three-and-a-half week stay in Hawaii, Westcoast Connection volunteers not only learned about the benefits and importance of reading aloud, but also became read-aloud ambassadors through their performances and read-aloud sessions. In the end, the students drew closer to one another, but more importantly, felt that they had made a difference with the children whose lives they had touched.

“Read To Me helped me understand what I was doing was more than community service or just reading to little kids. It made me see that maybe when these children see my enthusiasm for reading that they’ll go home and say “Hey mom, let’s go to the library.” This is ultimately keeping them out of trouble and in school. Overall, it was an awesome experience that I will never forget.”

- Isaiah, Westcoast Connection student

Have your own idea on how to share the love and joy of reading aloud? Contact us at read@readtomeintl.org.