On a sunny morning, kids from the YMCA day care, along with community members and volunteers, gathered around Dave Marten of Marten Machining for the first Learn for Life Summer Sizzle Reading Series event last week.

United Way of Portage County includes a program called Learn for Life in which volunteers promote literacy in children, promote reading skills and try to instill a lifelong love for reading.

Tutors meet with these children for a half-hour each week during the school year and the Summer Sizzle Readings Series helps promote literacy during the summer months. The first was Thursday, June 9, and the next one will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 25, at KASH Playground, Mead Park, Stevens Point.

“As a teacher, writer and former librarian, I believe strongly in the importance of literacy,” said Elizabeth Felt, a volunteer. “Children who enjoy books and reading at a young age are better equipped to do well in school. Reading also helps children become more empathetic, improve their problem-solving skills, and expand their curiosity,”.

Reading to children is something many parents do with their children at home as well.

Kari Witt, one of the parents attending, said, “It teaches them that learning is fun, it helps them build imagination and experience something different.”

With prompting from Witt, her daughter, McKenna, said they read at bedtime.

The books read Thursday, June 9, were “Rosie Revere, Engineer” and “How to Bicycle to the Moon to Plant Sunflowers: A Simple but Brilliant Plan in 24 Easy Steps.” The Learn for Life program finds one book that relates to the sponsor, in this case “Rosie Revere, Engineer” was chosen.

After the reading the kids are welcome to share their favorite part of the story that was just read. This is new this year.

 “Even kids who don’t seem like they are paying attention to the stories – picking flowers or fighting with a sibling – have good answers, showing that kids have remarkable attention skills,” Felt said. “This shows that even kids who have trouble sitting still can be read to.”

Attendees also get snacks and water, available at any point during the event. At the end of reading, they also are allowed a free book for their age group. With a variety of books available, there are plenty of choices for everyone.

During the 2015-16 school year, Learn for Life served 203 students at 13 different schools, including Rosholt Elementary, St. Stephen Elementary and St. Bronislava Elementary schools. This was up 78 percent from the previous school year.

Learn for Life also was introduced in six of the schools’ second-grade classrooms. The first school year, they implemented this program in Rosholt Elementary, with only 11 students.

“They learn phonemic awareness, they expand their imagination, really young kids learn how when we read pages, and so much more,” Laura Pfeil, community services manager of United Way of Portage County, said. “Brain development in the early years is more important than any other age in life.”

During the Summer Sizzle program, information about reading strategies for all ages is handed out in effort to help parents teach their children at home as well.

The series will last throughout the summer. Dates, times and locations as well as additional information can be found at www.unitedwaypoco.org/learnforlife.