Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Leah Kilpatrick | HHB Executive Officer Maj. Matthew Mercadante reads a book titled “Click, Clack, Moo...... read more read more
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FORT HOOD, Texas – Children gathered in a semi-circle and listened intently, gazing with wide eyes at the cow sitting at the typewriter, happily clacking away at the keys.
All the while, the executive officer of Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division, Maj. Matthew Mercadante, read the book and displayed the illustrations to the excited group of little ones, who seemed more interested in the man in the cow costume sitting at the typewriter pecking noisily at the keys.
HHB, 1st Cavalry Division partnered with the Military Child Education Coalition’s Fort Hood Parent to Parent team to host a “Tell Me a Story” event at the 1st Cavalry Divison Soldier and Family Readiness Center here Oct. 3.
“The 'Tell Me a Story' event is an opportunity where a member of the chain of command can read a book to kids,” said Mercadante, a native of Worcester, Mass., who has participated in five of these events to date. “Usually, it’s done during special holiday hours or during times of deployment, but it’s a good opportunity for kids and families within the command to come out, hear a member of the command read a book to the kids, and they get to do an associated craft that’s tied to the book.”
After Mercadante read the children a book titled, “Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type” by Doreen Cronin, the children were then led into a different room where they could take part in an arts and crafts activity. Some children made cow masks, and others colored and cut out their own pictures of cows.
Not only did the children get to hear the story and do a craft, but they also got to take their own copy of the book home with them courtesy of the MCEC.
“MCEC is a nonprofit organization that builds partnerships between military communities and their surrounding school districts, so we focus on parent workshops and early literacy events like this one,” said Cathy Sumner, a member of the MCEC’s Fort Hood Parent to Parent team.
One of the major tenets of MCEC is literacy and early literacy, so much so in fact that the organization usually hosts two large “Tell Me a Story” events per year, where they have been known to see as many as 300 people show up, Sumner said.
Mercadante echoed Sumner’s sentiment and said he even sees it as a way to get closer to the families within the command.
“With the busy times that we have being in the military, I think anytime that we can take some time out, spend it with our kids, read the books to our kids, it just helps,” he said. “It brings you closer to them. It brings you down to their level. It’s just a great event to get closer to your children or children and families within the organization.”
To encourage a more social atmosphere, this particular event was also organized as a pot luck.
“I think it works out for the kids, because they get a book that’s read to them,” said Mercadante. “They get to do a little arts and crafts. They get the book to take home with them, and they get to eat. Then they’re ready to go home and either finish their homework or get ready for bed, so it’s a good event all around.”
| Date Taken: | 10.03.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 10.10.2013 17:08 |
| Story ID: | 115030 |
| Location: | FORT HOOD, TEXAS, US |
| Hometown: | WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, US |
| Web Views: | 55 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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