Award Winning Book Author Continues Emphasizing Importance of Reading with Reading Tour

SAN DIEGO, CA - Throughout this year, award-winning children's book author Marta Arroyo expanded her increasingly popular reading event tours to include PSCDC communities across California. Marta collaborates with our Resident Services Coordinators to invite communities to enjoy a read-aloud together. During this month of reading events, Marta read Polvorones to the Cesar Chavez Villas, Torrey Highlands, Fairbanks Ridge, and Verbena communities.

A community's After School Program hosted by a Resident Services Coordinator is an integral and essential youth service offered by PSCDC. Coordinators develop and tailor their program to supplement the learning in classrooms, and help children foster their love for learning. For example, Resident Services Coordinators implement reading programs that encourage residents to explore the knowledge, adventures, and worlds bounded in pages of books. This year, PSCDC has made a purposeful effort in encouraging our younger residents to read.

"Our community's After School Program currently offers a reading program during the summer," mentions Fatema Neromand, Resident Services Coordinator of Torrey Highlands and Assistant Director of Services for North County San Diego. "Reading is an important part of our community's After School Program because it helps residents with school, teaches new information, and helps to stimulate their brains. To encourage residents to read, I'm working to establish a regular reading program with prizes for reaching milestones to make reading fun and enjoyable."

The impact from Marta's reading events have shown great success and impact towards influencing residents to pursue reading.

"Marta's reading event was extraordinary," Fatema revealed. "It engaged the residents to ask questions and enjoy reading with one another. They love the illustrations by Isa Medina in the book as well as the relatable stories."

"I want kids to see my books, and read them again, and again, and again," Marta stated. "Read and reread your favorite books at a library. It's ok to read a book over and over again. Children must find their lives in books. Books can give energy and encouragement to children everywhere."

Hosting more reading events with Marta has become a common request from residents. During these events, families reflectively look back in their own lives as Marta shares a story written from her own past childhood and experiences. After the read-aloud, Marta helps facilitate discussion as the community room erupts into conversations while working on small arts and crafts projects, with residents asking questions, expressing opinions, sharing stories, and listening to each other's points of view. Lucky raffle winners also get to take home their own physical copy of the story that Marta read aloud!

For Marta, the reading events have been an incredible opportunity to share her works with others. "I've learned that children and parents have a potential to be interested and enjoy my stories. I get a lot of encouragement as an author to get a chance to be in front of children, parents, and residents, that come to listen to my story."

Marta is currently working with the Imperial PSCDC team to organize more reading events in Calexico.