>Reading Fun Day at the New Bern Mall!

>Parents and children are invited to attend Reading Fun Day at the New Bern Mall on Saturday, February 5, 2011 from 10 am to 2 pm. This event, which is free to the public, will include a variety of fun literacy activities and reading stations focusing on the theme “Wild Things: Fact or Fiction?” and free books will be provided to participating children, while supplies last.

Activities and information booths will be provided by local schools and children’s organizations. Area schools that will be participating include Arthur B. Edwards Elementary; Bangert Elementary; Havelock Elementary; Ben D Quinn Elementary; H.J. MacDonald Middle School; J. T. Barber Elementary; St. Paul’s Catholic School; .W. J. Gurganus Elementary; Trent Park Elementary and Graham Barden Elementary.

In addition, a number of organizations will also provide activities for preschoolers and information booths. These include Craven Smart Start; Parents as Teachers; Circle of Safety International LLC; author, Susan Walker; Sylvan Learning Center; New Bern Craven County Public Library and Newspapers in Education of the Sun Journal. New Bern High School and the Early Child hood Program of Craven Community College will provide volunteers for the event. The New Bern Fire Department will also be on-hand to conduct free car seat checks in the front parking lot of the Mall.

Reading Fun Day is a local literacy outreach project sponsored and coordinated by Craven Smart Start, Twin Rivers Council of the International Reading Association, the Craven County Association of Educators, and the Sun Journal’s Newspapers in Education (NIE) Program.. For information, contact Pinkie Moore at (252) 671-0689.

Submitted by: Pinkie Moore, Community Outreach Coordinator for Craven Smart Start