Taft Event Promotes Reading to Kids

As parents still in work clothes munched on cookies and drank coffee at Taft High School on Tuesday night, their children ran around greeting school friends and dancing to the tunes of a children’s rock band.

In an effort to promote reading and foster communication skills among a generation raised on television and video games, the Taft High School Complex brought West Valley residents together with three dozen authors and storytellers at its second annual “Passport to Reading.”

“We wanted to do something that was fun and that the whole family could participate in,” said Geri Siener, a Taft English and journalism teacher. “We thought that if we could celebrate the joy of reading, that would be fun.”

Author Mark Nassief, a 1983 Taft graduate, said he and his writing partner agreed to speak at the event because it was designed to encourage parents to read to their children.

That fit perfectly with their philosophy in creating their self-published books, sprinkling them with references that may go over the child’s head, but parents would enjoy, he said.

“We don’t like to read stories that are boring and we know most adults aren’t going to read to their child if they’re not interested in the story,” Nassief said.

The annual event was funded through grants the complex--the high school and its feeder middle and elementary schools--received from the Mattel Hand-in-Hand Corp. and the Los Angeles Annenberg Metropolitan Project, as well as donations from local businesses such as Barnes & Noble and Starbucks Coffee.

While some parents brought their children to the event because it would be an educational experience, some children brought their parents because they heard their friends had a good time at a similar event in January.

“Their enthusiasm brought me,” said Canoga Park resident Cynthia Stewart, who has three children--a 15-year-old daughter and 11- and 9-year-old sons--in the complex, one in each school level.

Stewart said she didn’t mind spending the evening at school if it would spark an interest in reading in her children.

“If it’ll encourage them to read, I’m all for it,” she said, noting that her daughter “likes to read. I’m now working on the younger ones.”