Children and their parents enjoyed some summertime fun with a little learning on the side last Thursday at the second annual Moonshot Moment Family Pizza Party hosted by The Learning Alliance, the School District of Indian River County, Moonshot community partners and the National Summer Learning Association.
The Beach Party Bonanza-themed party at the Vero Beach Heritage Center celebrated National Learning Day, in line with the Moonshot goal to have 90 percent of children reading proficiently by the end of third grade.
It was steaming hot outside but comfortably cool indoors, where kids gobbled up pizza and moon pies, played games, made small crafts, danced the limbo and enjoyed a fun-filled beach party minus the sand and blazing sun.
Artist Cat Faust had designed large, colorful fish which hung from the stage against an ocean backdrop. Husband Adam Faust, principal at Glendale Elementary School and the event’s master of ceremonies, kept the mood light by dancing and cutting up in his surfing attire.
Children gathered excitedly on beach towels in front of the stage and interactively participated as community leaders, including Vero Beach Mayor Jay Kramer, Sebastian Mayor Bob McPartlan, Fellsmere Police Sgt. Scott Newsom and Vero Beach Police Chief David Currey read various books which were acted out by the drama troupe from Indian River County Charter High School.
“It was a lot of fun,” said Currey after reading “Where the Wild Things Are,” by Maurice Sendak.
“It is really important for all of us to help the kids learn to read better and know that we are here to support them.”
The idea behind the event is to keep children excited about reading as a way to avoid the “summer slide,” the problematic step back in learning skills often experienced during the summer break.
“We have seen tremendous strides with the kids because of this effort,” said Marie O’Brien, TLA director of community outreach. “We visited our summer camps and saw about 350 kids today. We have seen how much gain the kids have made in not just reading, but also in math.”
“I know the Moonshot Moment is a big thing here and I wanted to come to support it,” said attendee Jessica Morgan, a mother of two. “I have noticed that the summer reading and the Moonshot Moment program have really helped. When my daughter was first in kindergarten she was really shy about reading aloud and would not even read in front of her father. And now she is reading to her brother, in class and is a lot more confident.”
“I was so amazed after the first year with Moonshot Moment programs. But after the second year the kindergartners writing and forming their sounds was just incredible,” said Bonnie Swanson, former principal of Vero Beach Elementary. “It used to take about a month to get the kids back in the routine after summer slide and was such a waste of time. So this is so invaluable.”
At last year’s event students were given free books, but a new bookmobile now brings the books to them in their neighborhoods.
“We stopped around town and the kids got to shop for age-appropriate books. The parents could not believe that they did not have to buy the books,” said Swanson. “We even carry some books for the parents, too.”
