by Keziah G. Huelar

Reading is power – the donation of  Mrs. Anne Benthien will help CPU in its supplementary reading programs in both the kindergarten and elementary levels.

Celebrating the joy of reading—The Central Philippine University Elementary School and the CPU Kindergarten were delighted to receive boxes of books on October 8, 2018. The said books were donated by Mrs. Anne Benthien, a personal friend of CPU President Dr. Teodoro Robles and his wife, Angel.

Benthien works at the Milwaukee Public School System. She gathered reading and learning materials for kindergarten up to junior high school that were to be given away. She showed them to Dr. Robles when they met in Milwaukee. Dr. Robles then made efforts to have the books delivered to CPU.

CPU Director of Libraries, Prof. Cynthia T. Peleña, extended her gratitude on behalf of the CPU Libraries. “We would like to [express our appreciation] with [gratitude]… for [the] elementary and kindergarten books which we just received.”

CPU Elementary School Principal, Prof. Janet P. Jaco, and CPU Kindergarten Principal, Mrs. Hannah P. Siosan, both expressed their joy over the said donation.

According to Mrs. Siosan, the said donation would be a big contribution not only to their library but to the classrooms as well: “We are grateful that Dr. Robles was able to tap his friend. [These] will enhance the children’s exposure to books and their love for reading. There are small books for individual reading and then big books for group storytelling. Some of the books will be placed in the library while others will be placed in the classrooms.”

Mrs. Siosan shares that the books will aid their supplementary reading program: “With the new materials, our library time will be more interactive and interesting. As we know, we have to create ways and methods to make the children interested [in] the lessons. The materials cater to all areas of development; there are books about math, science and social studies; some of them [even] have CDs and DVDs that can be listened to or shown before the reading and learning session.”

Highlighting the importance of reading, Mrs. Siosian shares that it is critical that children should learn to love reading at an early age: “Kids are more drawn to gadgets [nowadays]. One thing we have discovered is that if we want to strengthen their love of reading, we must start them young. We would like to compete with gadgets and cell phones and reinforce the importance of reading.”

Both the CPU Elementary School and the CPU Kindergarten advocate for strong readership among their students, highlighting reading as an integral part of academic and social development.