
Bena has a very positive outlook and can always be counted on to offer encouraging words that come straight from her heart.
Bena enjoys sharing her love of reading with others. Here is her account of one experience she had as a volunteer at a local school:
A first-grade girl wanted to reach her goal for Accelerated Reading.
She found the going very difficult, as she knew very few words. Her
memory would improve with bribes of pencils, Hello Kitty jewelry, and other small trinkets. Other days, the offer of snacks got her through the rough spots.
We read non-fiction books about animals that she enjoyed. A chuckle and an exclamation of, “That dog’s crazy!” was her reaction to a book in the Biscuit series.
The last day for AR, I was really stressing, as she had not read enough books yet to reach her goal and be able to participate in the AR Fair. We held a “sit in” in the library. We sat in rockers to read the first book. We sat on the floor on the reading-time rug to read a book about a horse. She giggled because she had to help me up after we were done. We sat at different tables to read other books.
When we read a book about an armadillo, I screwed up my face and shook as I told her I’d seen some of the ugly things in my yard. While laughing at my antics, she read the story more slowly to prolong my “agony.”
I hope that my efforts – the time I took and my silly antics – help in the future to encourage her in reading.
Bena, I'm sure you did! She probably still giggles every time she sees an armadillo...