Students, service members book reading appointment

Over 1,000 classrooms from preschool through high school seniors across the country will be par­ticipating in the United Through Reading Story Time with a Service Member event beginning on Veterans Day, Nov. 11 through Friday, Nov. 15. United Through Reading will send a Veterans Day video package to participating schools with a library of video recordings of service members reading an entertaining and educational age-ap­propriate story to classrooms across the country.

The annual Story Time with a Service Member event demonstrates the organization’s commit­ment to facilitate the bonding experience between distant serving military members and their loved ones, and members of the community, through video-recorded stories. In celebration of Veter­ans Day, the event creates tangible experiences amongst service members and thousands of stu­dents through the fulfilling experience of reading aloud. Story Time with a Service Member gives students the opportunity to honor America’s vet­erans and gain an authentic understanding of the role military service members play in their communities and throughout the country.

San Diego-based United Through Reading Di­rector of Marketing and Communications Mela­nie Sheridan is a military spouse and mother. She said the organization just celebrated 35 years, beginning on the piers of San Diego with founder Betty Mohlenbrock with a VHS recorder, record­ing sailors before they deployed.

“We have evolved over the years and now we have an app. It is a free app where service members, or anybody with a military affiliation, active-duty, reserve, retirees, and veterans, can use our app to video record themselves reading a story to anyone they feel is important in their lives. Then we facilitate getting that video back to that family member, and send a free copy of the book itself, so they can follow along while they are watching that video,” she said.

For more information on how to become in­volved with Story Time with a Service Member, visit www.unitedthroughreading.org/resources/veterans-day-storytime-with-a-service-member/