More than 200 students from six local elementary schools packed a filled campus auditorium along with teachers, parents and UC Berkeley students for a lively May 1happening in celebration of books and reading, the campuss fourth annual BUILD reading-awards ceremony.
BUILD, for Berkeley United in Literacy Development, is a reading mentoring programof the UC Berkeley Public Service Center. Each semester the program matches 215 Berkeleystudents with young readers at schools in Berkeley and Oakland. Itwas fun talking about Seriously, Cinderella Is SO Annoying with her mentor, said one attendee,Washington Elementary third-graderEllen Olonbayar, who showed off her certificate forparticipating in the program and being an awesome kid.
This years awards ceremony, held in Lewis Hall, featured the world premiere of a play abouta squirrel in search of a bear on the UC Berkeley campus. The performance wasbased on Snackers and the Campus Mystery, a book that BUILD mentorsare writing and illustrating for young readers . They plan to give out free copies of their hardcover picture book, printed by Snapfish, at the Bay Area Book Festival, June 6 and 7.
Check out thesephotos fromthe BUILD reading-awards event: