Hooked After One Book: Volunteer to Read Aloud to Kids

Many community leaders and Pacifica leaders took time on Friday morning to read aloud to students at .

Pacifica School Volunteers organized the event, which is held regularly at Ortega and . Because of a last-minute cancellation, I stepped in and read to a classroom of third graders, and it's hard to think of a more rewarding experience. I will definitely be doing it again. 

Prior to following a student guide to classroom where I'd be reading, I flipped through some of the books that Pacifica Patch blogger and PSV Director had checked out from the local library. I was nervous, and wanted to read a book I was at least vaguely familiar with. 

Alas, it's been a while since I was a third grader, and I didn't know many of the titles. FInally, however, I came across an Eric Carle book, A House for Hermit Crab. 

I remember soaking in Carle's illustrations from The Very Hungry Caterpillar as a child, and I like how his writing is both educational but also poetic in a way. 

I chose Hermit Crab and steeled myself. I'd never done this before. 

Luckily, the third graders loved it and were very well behaved. I'm hooked, and I know it was for a good cause. I count myself lucky that both of my parents read to me every night as a child. 

"The more they're read to, the better of they are," Laurie Frater, Jefferson Union High School District Trustee and a Read Aloud volunteer of 10 years, said. 

If you'd like to volunteer to read aloud to local elementary school students or in another Pacifica School Volunteers programs, visit this website or email them dierectly at psv@pacificasd.org.