LTCC, LTESM Partner on Literacy Event
May 7, 2018
Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) is joining the Lake Tahoe Unified School System
(LTUSD) and the Lake Tahoe Environmental Science Magnet School (LTESM) to encourage
childhood literacy with a special event on May 25. They will be hosting a Gift of
Literacy event on LTCC’s campus to provide each LTESM student with a brand-new hardbound
book to help spark a lifelong interest in reading. Among the invited guests who will
be reading to local children that day will be two-time Olympic gold medalist freeskier
and children’s book author David Wise.
In its first pilot year, the Gift of Literacy program will provide approximately 138 kindergarten, first grade and special day students from LTESM with copies of selected books. Copies will also be provided to all LTUSD elementary school libraries, the South Lake Tahoe Public Library, LTCC’s Roberta Mason library, and at LTCC programs including the Child Development Center and Tahoe Parents Nursery School so the community has an opportunity to read along.
“Hosting this event on LTCC’s campus will help our community’s youngest readers get inspired about reading, and start them on a path towards lifelong learning,” said LTCC Superintendent/President Jeff DeFranco. “It’s a great introduction to our campus, and hopefully gets them thinking about college in their own futures.”
In addition to receiving free books, LTESM students will also enjoy a fun day at LTCC with small group book readings led by special guests, and a tour of LTCC’s science labs, Haldan Art gallery, and Roberta Mason Library. A free lunch will be provided to all of the day’s volunteers courtesy of the ADVANCE collaborative network.
Winter Olympian David Wise will read from his new illustrated children’s book, Very Bear and the Butterfly, released in March 2018. Wise, who has two small children of his own, loves to tell his kids “Daddy stories” based on experiences and stories from his own life. He turned this storytelling passion into a children’s book meant for K-3 aged children where he talks about character, and important life lessons that have brought him meaning and joy. The book describes how Wise met his wife, Alexandra, during what he initially calls the “worst winter of my life” while healing up from a knee injury. He touchingly describes how it became his best winter ever because "a beautiful soul took the time to teach me a new and priceless perspective."
Scholastic and Children Leading Children will serve as the book vendors for this Gift of Literacy event, providing approximately 190 books to the South Lake Tahoe community at a deeply discounted price. For this inaugural year of the program, a set of five books was selected for distribution with subjects including the environment, appreciating differences, multicultural, and character books. LTCC is working with the Lake Tahoe Education Foundation and the LTESM PTA to cover the funding.
For more information about the May 25 Gift of Literacy event, please contact LTCC’s Superintendent/President’s Office at (530) 541-4660 ext. 210. To learn more about David Wise and Children Leading Children, visit www.mrdavidwise.com and www.childrenleadingchildren.com.