Olympian David Wise joins in on inaugural Gift of Literacy event in South Lake Tahoe

"Choose joy, even in hard times," two-time Olympic gold medal winner David Wise told students form the Lake Tahoe Environmental Magnet School on May 25.

Wise had just shared his children's book "Very Bear and The Butterfly" with kindergarten and first grade students from the school who were on the Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) campus for a day of literacy.

"This is the first time I've shared this book with people who know bears," Wise started off in the Duke Theatre. The children's book is about a bear who experiences things in life that make him angry, and he blames a weasel for the anger and lets it control his life. Then a butterfly comes along and showed him how to be kind.

Wise shared that he was the bear after a poorly timed knee injury made him angry until his wife Alexandra (portrayed in the butterfly) showed him how to work through problems with joy and kindness. The couple and their two kids, Malachi (3) and Nayeli (6), were at LTCC for the literacy event. Wise stayed after the reading, sold and autographed books, t-shirts and treats in his book theme.

LTCC Superintendent/President Jeff DeFranco has tried to get the community literacy event in South Lake Tahoe since arriving in town from Springfield, Oregon where a like program was being done. He's been sharing the idea since then, and it came to fruition Friday.

"If you can read, you can lead," said DeFranco. "Reading is the gateway to learning. It is how you access all information."

The LTCC Coyote and Clifford the Big Red Dog were on hand to greet the kids as they got off the buses. The students stood in line for a high-five or a hug from the two.

In this inaugural event, each student got a book bag with a new hardcover book inside that they had pre-selected from five choices Scholastic Books had put together with subjects including the environment, appreciating differences, multicultural, and character books. After listening to Wise they broke up into smaller groups and were read to by community members in nooks around the campus. They were also treated to tours of LTCC, an introduction of what they can do and accomplish if they read.

“Hosting this event on LTCC’s campus will help our community’s youngest readers get inspired about reading, and start them on a path towards lifelong learning,” said DeFranco. “It’s a great introduction to our campus, and hopefully gets them thinking about college in their own futures.”

Copies off all the books were provided to all Lake Tahoe Unified School District (LTUSD) elementary school libraries, the South Lake Tahoe Public Library, LTCC’s Roberta Mason library, and at LTCC programs including the Child Development Center and Tahoe Parents Nursery School so the community has an opportunity to read along.

DeFranco would like to see this be an annual event in South Lake Tahoe. For those wishing to help, donations can be made to the Lake Tahoe Educational Foundation. More information can be found here: http://www.ltcc.edu/giving/giftofliteracy.php. Even with Scholastic offering the books at a deep discount, funds are needed to buy the books.