Private Industry Council of Westmoreland/Fayette, INC -

Even Start and Target Conduct Family Literacy Night
with the book There's No Place Like Space

Every month between January and May, the Even Start Program operated by the Private Industry Council of Westmoreland/Fayette, Inc. (PIC), in conjunction with the Target Corporation, holds a Family Literacy Night with a unique theme. Thanks to a generous donation from Target, this monthly event encourages the excitement of reading and is open to all families with children up to the age of 12. Family Literacy Nights incorporate storytelling, child-centered activities, and snacks into a free event every member of the family can enjoy. After the night of learning and entertainment, all families receive a complimentary copy of that night's featured reading to take home and enjoy again.

March's Literacy Night focused on a science theme, and was attended by nearly 80 children and adults. The evening began with PIC's own Rebecca Price, dressed as The Cat in the Hat, reading There's No Place Like Space, written by Tish Rabe. The book is a Cat in the Hat's Learning Library book that takes the reader on a wild trip to visit the nine planets of our solar system, along with the Cat in the Hat, Thing One, and Thing Two. Rebecca also showed the children the order of the planets in space, which all the children enjoyed tremendously.

The main event was a presentation by the Carnegie Science Center, which portrayed the Solar System as being the best thing in the Universe! Through amazing experiments the children were shown the order of the planets and learned various facts of the planets. For the concluding experiment, the entire group went outside and used cord lengths to demonstrate the distance of each planet from the Sun.

While outside, special guest Gary Ozegovich set up his powerful telescope for the group to view the planet Saturn. Gary was most gracious in answering all questions that the children had about space and the planets.

The evening ended with delicious snacks provided by the Even Start program and all the children received a copy of the evening's book.

The next event, "From Seed to Flower", will be held April 24th from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. PHIPPS Conservatory will be the evening's presenter and will offer a variety of related educational activities. Story time will include a reading of The Tiny Seed.

To view photos from the event, click here.

The Private Industry Council's Even Start Program and Target will be hosting a Family Literacy Night at the end of each month, through May 2006.