Once Upon A Time: CSF Members Read to Kindergartners At Houston For December Project

On Friday, December 6th, 2024, CSF members signed up to go and read to kindergartners at Houston Elementary. Members that went shared their experiences about the memorable event.

By: Beth Musto

Every month, CSF [California Scholarship Federation] has a different service project for the members for community service hours.

For the December project, CSF members took an adventure and traveled to Houston Elementary. They got to read to kindergartners and play with them until the kids had to go home.

Monica Saenz, the principal at Houston said that the kids were excited. She says, “Our Houston Bears absolutely loved this experience! They were excited about how they made new friends, and how they learned so much from the books that were read to them.”

“This event was so special because the Redwood Rangers were positive role models that displayed how important reading is and encouraged our students to read every day. The Rangers practiced good reading behaviors, encouraged active listening, and asked thought provoking questions that our Bears were able to engage with,” Saenz says.

Saenz thought that the event was a great way to get the little kids more involved with reading.

“My favorite part of this event was seeing all of the smiling faces, not just on our Houston student’s faces, but also on our Redwood buddies’ faces! I appreciate the partnership that we have. These experiences are so meaningful, especially since our little Bears will eventually become big Rangers,” Saenz says.

Vanessa Robles, ’26, signed up for the event. She said that it was really fun and loved seeing the kindergartners running around playing, after being read too.”

Robles says, “I think it was really fun. I liked reading the little kids and seeing them play after it was really sweet.”

Karli Rasmussen, ’25, is the vice persident for CSF. She says, “It went really well. I think the kids really enjoyed it, and it was a great turnout for CSF, a lot of [students] came and brought a lot of different books and I think the kids had fun.”

After the kids got read to by CSF memebers, they got to play on the playground. Tag, hide-and-seak, running around yelling, all student from Houston and Redwood had fun with each other.

Rasmussen says, “I loved seeing the kids’ reactions to the books because like, I mean, I think they’ve seen obviously books before, but like, it was like Christmas stories and I loved just like interacting with them and like seeing their reactions. And I think kids are just so sweet, so I think that’s what I feel perfect.”

“When we were on the playground after [reading] just seeing all the little kids having fun and seeing everyone from Redwood having fun with the kids was cool to see,” Robles says.

“I want to send a special shout out to Mrs. Vieira for putting this event together. She knows the importance of fostering strong relationships and the love of reading within students. I also want to thank the Redwood Rangers that gave their time and enthusiasm for reading to our little cubs. I hope to continue this event for years to come,” says Saenz.

Tags: clubs & lifestyles, community service, CSF, houston elementary school, rangers, Redwood, redwood csf, redwood csf community service, redwood gigantea, redwood high school, redwood journalism, redwood rangers, rhs, rhs csf, visalia ca