It’s a picnic to read

Amelia Collins sat on a blanket between both her parents, laughing as she read the story of a boy who refused to take a bath, imagining bears and other large animals taking up all the hot water.

“You’d better not give me that excuse tonight,” Amelia’s mom Tina Collins jokingly said.

It was nowhere near time for bed, though.

The sun was out as the Collins family read together on a picnic blanket surrounded by nearly 1,000 of 7-year-old Amelia’s classmates at Golden View Elementary School and their families.

On Nov. 1 parents, children and school staff gathered on the field behind the school’s portables for the event. This was not a picnic for the mouth as much as for the mind.

Reading has definitely spurred Amelia’s imagination, her mom said.

“I want to be one of those people who tell stories on the radio,” Amelia said.

And this morning it was all about the young girl telling the stories. She read nearly six books to her parents before the morning ended, picking up the next book before its predecessor hit the blanket.

Reading, not being read to, is where most of the joy happens in Amelia’s reading experience, especially when it’s to mom and dad.

“I can practice, and it’s really fun to do,” Amelia said.

“My parents pay more attention than my friends,” Amelia said. “They just want to watch TV or play with my toys.”

Mom and Dad were supportive of her choice, happy to just sit back and absorb the extra hour they were able to spend with their daughter. Normally, both would have been at work by the time the picnic occurred.

“The fact that we get to spend time with her and see how enthusiastic she has become is so great for us,” Tina Collins said. “It will get her further in life if she knows how to read.”

No family could better sum up the staff’s intended purpose in holding the event every year. Principal Karen Spane looks to events like this as activities crucial to promoting family support of school activities and vice versa.

“One of our most important priorities is teaching kids to read, and we can’t do it alone,” Spane said. “It only happens in a partnership among the teachers, kids and parents.”

Clifford, the giant red dog famous in children’s literature for getting into all sorts of trouble due to his oversized paws, and Chuck-E-Cheese visited the school. Kids swarmed each as the costumed characters made their way out onto the field.

Although exciting, the characters outside of the book were not the stars of the morning as much as those on the pages.

Amelia loves to read books about animals and people, and it helps her use her imagination, Tina Collins said.

Spane just hopes that the thirst for reading does not end with the picnic but continues throughout every student’s career. Plus, there’s always next year’s picnic.