SEA Literacy Project
The Student Education Association (SEA) and Kappa Delta Pi Honor Society (KDP) at Governors State University hosted a Literacy Project which took place throughout the month of March. The project celebrated the nationwide Read Across America (NEA) and Literacy Alive! (KDP). Student leaders and other volunteers read and facilitated literacy activities at three locations on four occasions including South Suburban PADS, The Garden of Prayer Youth Center, and Ronald McDonald House. Volunteers consisted of students, faculty, and staff; each location had about 6-10 volunteers, in addition to the four SEA/KDP student leaders.
The first event at South Suburban PADS Wellness Center took place on Thursday, March 1st. The stories and activities centered around the theme of Winter and the children were very excited to read books such as “There Was a Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow” by Lucille Colandro and “The Snowy Day” by Ezra Jack Keats before designing and creating their own snowmen.
The second event at the South Suburban PADS Wellness center took place on Thursday, March 15th. The theme was animals, and the children quickly became enthralled with books such as “The Rainbow Fish” by Marcus Pfister and “If You Give A Moose a Muffin” by Laura Numeroff. The children varied greatly in age so they all chose their favorite age-appropriate book and set about creating moose sock puppets out of paper bags and rainbow fish out of construction paper and tissue paper.
The third event took place at the Garden of Prayer Youth Center on Friday, March 2nd. Their theme focused on books authored by Dr. Seuss including “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish” and “The Lorax.” The students at this event enjoyed making Truffula Trees with paper plates and tissue paper and playing with green slime! The final event of this project took place at the Ronald McDonald House on Friday, March 23rd. Children read books such as “We Are in a Book!” and “The Pigeon Needs a Bath!” by Mo Willems and created pigeon heads with paper plates and colorful handprints with paint and paper.
All materials for the activities were donated to SEA & KDP for use during the project and then donated to the location at the culmination of the event. SEA & KDP also used their own money earned through fundraisers. Thank you to everyone who donated or volunteered your time and made this event a success!
This project is being submitted for the Literacy Alive! award with Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society.