Salve Students “Marched” Into Reading

By: Catie Allard
Posted In: News

Salve Regina University opened its doors for the fourth annual March into Reading on Saturday, Feb. 10 where author and illustrator workshops, book sales, signings student-led activities took place for area children.

Featured children authors and illustrators, Lucinda Landon, David Biedrzycki, Dina Friedman, and Brian Pinkney filled the seats of Bazarsky lecture hall with parents and children from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. describing their own personal writing techniques and progression as authors and illustrators. The authors and illustrators stayed to sign books afterwards.

Elementary and Secondary Education students created activities for the event through their SED350 course. The activities were developed in order to “make parents more aware,” said Elizabeth Milli ’09 who, with her partner, Bethany Perry ’09, constructed a poster board and hand-out to encourage physical activity and fight childhood obesity.

The Overlords Trilogy author, Michael Squarito, of Tiverton, RI, also held a kids creativity workshop aiming to expose children to different ways of thinking and writing.

The annual event, free to the public, was organized by the Aquidneck Collaborative for Education, school librarians and the Department of Education at Salve Regina University. It was sponsored by the Rhode Island Health and Educational Building Corporation, Verizon, The Newport Daily News, Newport Hotel Group and Island Books, whose representatives were in attendance selling books.

Jennifer Bloom, of Portsmouth, RI, brought her family to the event. Her daughter, Abby, a third grader at the Hathaway School, held her signed Lucinda Landon book proudly after standing in line to meet her.

Assistant Special Education Professor, Kathryn Rok, M.Ed, excitedly greeted attendants as they entered. Rok heads Salve’s participation in the event and says, “The biggest highlight for the kids is the activities.”

The Aquidneck Collaborative for Education (ACE) in partnership with Salve created the event in celebration of children’s books. The authors and illustrators, contacted through school librarians, said Rok, visited island schools associated with the ACE on Friday, and then made their way to Salve for Saturday’s events.

The ACE was established in 1993 and seeks to promote community involvement and provide

opportunities for educational and professional advancement.