On February 29th six officers of our Lodge, and our Division’s Assistant Grand Lecturer, Frank Lee, participated in the program “Reading Across America”, at Edwin Rhodes Elementary School in Chino. Those from Chino Valley Lodge were, Master-Manny Blanco, PM, Jr Warden-John Cover Spear, PM, Secretary-Phillip Stekel, Sr Deacon-Jim Duran and Sr. Steward-Stanley Briones.
What a very proud and important day this was for our Lodge. We were very excited to participate in this important community event. From 9:30 to 11:30 AM, each one of the participants went to their assigned rooms to read. Books were provided, or the “readers” could supply their own. As we each introduced ourselves, we each, in our own way, described the importance of learning to read, both for the student and their families. We each read a story to the class and I found that the book I chose was the perfect book to read for my particular class. The students were so excited to meet us and have a story read to them. And, from the look I saw on the teacher’s face in the room I was in, she was very pleased as well. The students were well behaved and were very attentive to the story being read. The reaction in each room was one of thanks and happiness!
I believe that there were 20 to 25 “readers” who participated in this important program, and I felt really blessed to have had the opportunity to spend this important time with the children. You could see the happiness in their faces; feel the goodness that emanated from their hearts, as they listened very intently to the readers. I do believe this inspirational and exciting program positively affected many lives. The members of Chino Valley Lodge were very grateful to have participated in the “Reading Across America” program at the Edwin Rhodes Elementary School.
Submitted by: John Cover Spear, PM, Chino Valley Lodge, D8 Reporter