Mid-Pacific’s Interact Club supported Hawaii literacy by making a set of read-aloud videos of classic children’s stories. Children can view the videos, which is posted on Instagram and will appear on YouTube.

The Interact Club members volunteer to help and show appreciation for the community. Students do different projects each month such as writing kapuna cards, the Salvation Army angel tree and food bank drives.

Students recorded themselves reading a children’s book and sent these videos to the Hawaii Literacy Foundation. Parents and kids can listen to the prerecorded stories at any time.

“Reading and writing skills are so important to our keiki, especially in our low-income high needs communities. We are so grateful to have students from Mid-Pacific take the time to create these read-aloud videos for our youth. It is so exciting and heart-warming to see this current generation taking action to help their community and the world,” said Giving & Program Operations Director at Hawaii Literacy Amy Truong.

Members from the Interact Club who participated in the service project said they enjoyed giving back to the community and making a difference for children who might listen to their videos.

“It was a good way to connect with people and do something nice for younger kids. It was a good experience that I’ve never done before and it was a good way to help make people smile during this time,” said junior Mackenzie Nitta.

Senior and Interact Club president Alyssa Chun said she enjoyed doing something she’d probably never do if it wasn’t for COVID-19.

“I’ve never read a book virtually on a video. I think it’s an interesting thing, and it’s kind of sad that it wasn’t in person and we didn’t get to see the little kids, but at least we know we’re making them happy in some way,” said Chun.

Nitta said that this project was something different and exciting and thinks what they’re doing with this club is good.

“I’ve realized that during this time, it’s important to help make people happy and stay positive, especially because of what’s happening now,” she said.

The students who participated said that their favorite part was looking back on the children’s books and reflecting on childhood memories.

“My favorite part was digging up all these children’s books again, the feeling from all those memories you get from looking at all of the books went it’s all out was a good experience. It was also fun to do with my parents,” said junior Lauren Hayashi.

The books read were picked by the club members that represented how they were brought up as children.

“Our generation is different from theirs, so being able to share that was a good experience,” said Chun.

When reading virtually, some students said they had to get out of their comfort zone and become animated when talking and analyzing images.

“I had to put a lot of voice and character into my reading to make it interesting for the young kids to read. I had to focus on being interesting and making sure I speak clearly because I often talk quiet and slur my words; making sure that they can understand,” said junior Ashley Okinaka.

Some students said they found virtual reading harder because they felt nervous and couldn’t visually see the kids on the other side of the camera.

“At first it was kind of awkward because you’re reading to nobody and you’re just talking into a camera, but after awhile it gets more comfortable,” said Hayashi.

Club members said they were were surprised to have experienced this uncertainty because it’s something different and creative that they wouldn’t have thought about doing on their own.

“I was surprised because I never really gave thought that if we’re not on the other side of the video call, that we are still able to read to the kids. I never thought of pretending that the kids are on the other side of the camera, that was really a different experience,” said Chun.

Members from the club said the project served a purpose to give back to the community and help people, which made them strive to do this and inspire younger kids.

“I was excited because when I was little, I liked when my mom read to me, so being able to read a story for another kid was empowering,” said Hayashi.