Caption: Alison Diaz, ECS CEO and Founder, reads Diffendoofer Day by Dr. Suess to kick off the festival.
On Thursday, March 1st, ECMS-Gardena held their annual Diffendoofer Day Literacy Festival. Named after the popular Dr. Suess book, the festival welcomed students, families, and community members to learn about literacy in all of its many forms.
Alison Diaz, CEO and Founder of Environmental Charter Schools, kicked off the festival with a reading of Diffendoofer Day and reminded us all of the unique community of which we are a part of. The community event had something for everyone. Students made bookmarks and learned to make a DIY-all purpose literacy game from Popsicle sticks called Kaboom! Meanwhile, parents and families learned about traditional literacy from community partners, including Families In Schools, Los Angeles Harbor College, and our local County of Los Angeles Public Library.
Caption: County of Los Angeles Public Library engage with attendees about literacy resources.
ECMS-Gardena also welcomed the many non-traditional forms of literacy, including financial literacy presented by Primera, community literacy from MyLA 311, and Officer Carmen from the local Los Angeles Police Department office. Sharing about music literacy was our very own rock band, Nightmare on Ainsworth, and Grammy-nominated reggae artist, Pato Banton and keyboardist Antoinette “Rootsdawtah” Hall. The band and musicians performed for guests and even held an impromptu rap contest!
Caption: (left to right) Ms. McBride (ECMS-G teacher), John (ECMS-G rock band), Antoinette “Rootsdawtah” Hall, Pato Banton, and Talia Dotson (ECMS-G Community Liaison) enjoy the night together.
A huge thank you to all of our special guests and partners: Pato Banton and Antoinette “Rootsdawtah” Hall, our fearless ECMS-G rock band leader, John, ECMS-G Community Liaison, Talia Dotson, and all ECMS-G teachers and staff.
We look forward to continuing to innovate and develop the Literacy Festival and other moments of family and community engagement at ECMS-G!
