St. Landry Early Learning Network
Rocking Chair Readers Event
Promoting Early Childhood Literacy and Family Bonding
Opelousas, La – April 2, 2025 The Rocking Chair Readers event aims to instill a love for reading in young children and foster a sense of community among families. This free event will be held on Friday, April 4 at Opelousas’ Le Vieux Village at 828 E. Landry Street from 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm. This promises to be an enjoyable event for everyone in the family, providing refreshments, free books, door prizes, and more. Participating as volunteer readers will be local leaders and officials; educators and civic group members.
According to Melissa Arnaud, St. Landry Parish School Board Supervisor of LA 4/Title I Pre K and coordinator of the St. Landry Early Learning Network, “Reading and literacy is at the heart of our mission to promote and prepare children for a successful academic life. For the parent, reading to their child provides the opportunity to bond with and be part of their child’s early development. For the child, reading can unleash creativity and imagination that will empower him/her to embark on a journey of lifelong learning and discovery right from the very start of their lives.” The event will involve friendly community leaders and adult volunteers as readers, while families move to each station or “house”, welcomed by the reader seated in a rocking chair.
One of the participants of the event, St. Landry-Evangeline United Way has literacy as one of its core focus areas, and specifically provides the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, a program that delivers a free, age-appropriate book to children age 0-5. Ginger LeCompte, Executive Director of the United Way stated, “We can’t be more thrilled to be involved with this event. Following the research provided through the affiliates of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, we know that parents and grandparents play a crucial role in their child’s cognitive and emotional growth well before they reach school age, and one of the best ways to prepare their children for school is reading to them – on the floor, at the kitchen table, or from a rocking chair!”
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For more information on this event or The SLP Early Learning Network, contact Melissa Arnaud at 337-(337) 948- 3657 ext. 10275.
The vision of St. Landry Parish Early Learning Network is to ensure every child has the opportunity to receive high quality care and educational experiences, preparing each child for success in Kindergarten and beyond. Our mission is to provide developmentally appropriate practices and experiences along with parental partnerships and resources to support each child’s individual development in all early learning domains in order for each child to become successful life-long learners. https://earlylearningnetworkslp.org/
