Chatham Village Apartments Attends "Polvorones" Read-Aloud Event with Author Marta Arroyo
ORANGE, CA - Word carried quickly through the Chatham Village Apartments community when they heard that Marta Arroyo, award-winning bilingual children's book author, would host a read-aloud event on the property. For some of the children and parents, this would be the third time they had participated in an event with Marta Arroyo, and when they were informed about the upcoming event, were immediately interested. For Marta, Chatham Village Apartments has only been one of her stops on her reading tour. She has often visited PSCDC properties in San Diego and Imperial County to share her stories with residents of all ages. Together with PSCDC's Orange County Director of Services, Martha Venegas, Marta read one of her more popular books, Polvorones, and captured the attention of residents in attendance.
Despite hosting read-aloud events at various PSCDC properties and libraries, the experience at Chatham Village Apartments was unique and special for Marta. "My experience was joyful, as I saw many parents in the presentation with their kids. I felt I was able to reach the children and saw their interest in the story."
Parents and children filled the community room to listen to Martha read out loud. Children enjoyed the vivid illustrations and following along to the story, often getting involved and asking Marta questions about characters and the story. Even the adults were listening to Marta's storytelling, because to many of them, it reminded them of their own childhood.
After finishing the book reading, Marta surprised residents with extra hard-cover copies of Polvorones that they could take home and read as a thank-you for attending. Marta raffled off the copies to lucky residents, who were excited to read the book again and try the polvorones recipe included in the book with their families. Residents were also treated to light refreshments, and quite fittingly, polvorones as they socialized amongst each other to talk about the story, other books they have read, or to catch up with one another.
"The most fulfilling part of read aloud events are the kids' eyes watching the story book. They were engaged with the story, and they were able to respond and reflect on the meaningful lessons I wanted to teach them. It is fun to see and listen in on their thoughts and discussions about what they have just heard."
Education is a cornerstone in the services PSCDC Resident Services Coordinators offer for their communities. For example, the community offers after school tutoring sessions on Tuesdays and Thursday for students to get the extra help they may need at school. For Martha, having a read-aloud hosted in Chatham Village Apartments was a great idea that hoped to spark the excitement into reading for her younger residents. "It was a very good experience to have children and parents gather to listen to Mrs. Arroyo read to them about her latest story."
According to Marta, this will not be the last time Chatham Village Apartments will host a read-aloud event. The attendance of Chatham Village residents clearly displayed their excitement for more read-aloud events, and cannot wait to have Marta come visit again.
"Parents enjoyed the event as much as the children. They especially liked that the book was written in two languages, English and Spanish, and they wanted to get together to prepare the polovorones recipe. One parent commented that her children were excited to tell their father about Polvorones."
