Listening to a story is fun – but it is even more when some special visitors take the reins on reading the story (bonus points if Charlie the Riverdog is somehow involved).
Such was the case Friday morning at Hanahan Elementary when two baseball players from the Charleston Riverdogs organization came out for a special storytime session with the students. The session consisted of infielder Carlos Perojo, who is from Venezuela, and catcher Joshuan Sandoval, who is from Puerto Rico, alternating reading aloud in English and Spanish to the students. Charlie, the team’s iconic mascot, tagged along to dole out high-fives and hugs.
The Charleston Riverdogs have had a recent presence in a couple of Berkeley County School District elementary schools as part of the baseball organization’s annual Festival de Lectura event, a bilingual reading program that promotes literacy in schools.
The students were challenged to work on their reading skills by completing a read-a-thon led by the Riverdogs. Completers scored tickets to a specially-themed Riverdogs game on May 26. This game was one of a few scheduled Perros Santos games this season that celebrates Charleston’s growing Latin American population, as well as the heritage of some of the players on the roster. Goose Creek Elementary and College Park Elementary students also participated.
The Riverdogs celebrated the completion of the Festival de Lectura by reading aloud to the students; they read in both English and Spanish (and possibly some Portuguese).
