CHEYENNE, Wyo. -- Airmen from the 90th Missile Wing read to students at Sunrise Elementary School in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Feb. 26, 2024.
The school invited Airmen from the base, along with other Cheyenne community members, to read to children in kindergarten through sixth grade, as part of an annual week-long literacy lesson.
Airmen who volunteered helped start off the first day of the literacy week by reading books that they either brought from home or picked out of the school library to students. Participants were split between grade levels and classrooms and read to the children to show how literacy is important in their jobs.
“It’s a great honor to have the opportunity to read to these kids,” said Tech. Sgt. Jeremy Lonix, 90th Logistics Readiness Squadron Noncommissioned Officer In Charge of fleet management. “Any time we can engage with the community is a great opportunity for us to reach out and help others.”
The rest of the week was filled with activities to engage students, including a word parade, author visits and a book fair. Each day also featured a special dress-up activity, to allow the students to express themselves throughout the week.
“Sunrise Elementary has a literacy week each year, and we like to kick off our week with community readers,” said Aimee Sommers, a teacher at Sunrise Elementary. “Literacy week is a time to get students excited about reading and thinking about literacy in new ways.”
This year’s community readers event received enough volunteers for every classroom to have its own reader. Sommers stated that the students had a great time and were thrilled at the presence of the guests.