The Louisiana Area Health Education Center will offer age-appropriate Reach Out

Tag : Corduroy Fabric
The Junior League of Greater Covington will be sponsoring its second "Read for the Record" onThursday from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event will be held at theKids Konnection Playground on Koop Drive in Mandeville, the futuresite of The Children's Museum of St. Tammany Parish.
"The Junior League of Greater Covington is pleased to host thisfree event to promote literacy for children," said Lisa Gros,chairwoman. "Reading with children is one of the most importantgifts we can give them. We are excited to raise awareness in a funand exciting way."
At last year's inaugural event, 796 children read "The Story ofFerdinand." More than 30 St. Tammany Parish public and privateschools and preschools also participated on their own campuses withan additional 5,228 children reading for the record, Gros said.There were more than 258,000 children reading at 2,000 nationwideevents in 2007.
Read for the Record is part of a program that attempts to set a newGuinness World Record for the largest reading experience in theworld. It is a national event that will be televised throughout theUnited States, on such programs as the "Today Show." Localparticipation includes New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Breesreading "Corduroy" on a taped recording that will be broadcastevery hour on the hour, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., on Thursday on localChannel 10 Access.
The reading record festival will include tents with children'sactivities. Though the day will be geared toward children inpreschool through third grade, all children up to 18 years old areinvited to participate in the world record.
The New Orleans Hornets Honeybees dance team and mascot Hugo willbe on hand to help create a buzz of excitement about reading, aswell to help distribute books.
The Louisiana Area Health Education Center, a nonprofitorganization that works with the Louisiana State University MedicalCenter, will offer age-appropriate Reach Out and Read opportunitiesby donating a free new book to every child.
There will be "Corduroy" color sheets, and the St. Tammany ParishLibrary will sponsor a "Pin the Button on Corduroy" game.
Other activities include hair makeovers, face painting, makeup andnail polish, the chance to learn toddler soccer skills, kid IDcards and fingerprinting, the New Orleans Saints Experience withjump/bounce inflatables and "pretend to tackle" opportunities,visits to the Audubon Nature Institute's Bug Mobile and its tablepresentation of Arthropods, theatrical readings of "Corduroy" byThe Port-A-Puppet Players, and free snacks and beverages.
The Junior League requests that all local schools participate ontheir individual campuses. The JLGC will provide a book and allpaperwork.
Those interested can request information by sending an e-mail tojlgcreadfortherecord@gmail.com.
For information about the Junior League of Greater Covington Readfor the Record, call Gros at 951.7020, visit the league Web site atwww.jlgc.net or go to the project Web site atwww.readfortherecord.org.
Published on NOLA.com Friday, September 26, 2008 2:26 p.m.
Published in The Times-Picayune Sunday, September 28, 2008