CASSOPOLIS — An event to both promote early literacy and teach young children about safety is coming to Cass County this weekend.

Lewis Cass Intermediate School District’s Great Start program will host a Roll and Read event from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at the Brookside Early Learning Center, 61682 Dailey Road, Cassopolis.

The Great Start program is a free home visitation program that serves families with children prenatal to kindergarten entry.  It is a Parents as Teachers affiliate.  Parents as Teachers is an international, nonprofit organization that uses an evidence-based model to deliver parent education primarily through personal visits and group meetings.  The program equips parents with knowledge and resources to prepare their children for a stronger start in life and greater success in school, said Vicki Foote, administrative assistant for Great Start.

The Roll and Read event focuses on physical well-being and early literacy, Foote said. Parents and children can walk, bike, skate, push a stroller or pull a wagon along the learning center’s track, stopping along the way to read stories with “local heroes,” such as police officers and firefighters.  Children will have a chance to climb aboard one of Central Cass Fire Department’s firetrucks, meet Nellie, Cass County’s K9 Deputy, and learn about going to the doctor from the Cass Family Clinic.  Children will also have the opportunity to enjoy a smoothie they make with the “fresh food fairy” on her bike blender.  Child ID fingerprinting and car seat checks and crafts will also be available. Families who attend will receive free books and lunch during the event. The event is free and open to families within Cass County and surrounding areas.

“It’s going to be really fun,” Foote said. “It will be a fun way to promote literacy and teach kids that firemen and police and doctors are there to help them.”

The main goal of the event is to promote early literacy for children, Foote said.

“The data shows that some of our districts are kind of lagging in reading skills, so we are trying to boost that up,” she said. “We want to show our parents that the sooner we get kids reading, the better they will do in school.”

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, more than one in three American children start kindergarten without the skills they need to learn to read. Evidence shows developing early literacy skills makes it easier for children to learn to read. Children who enter school with these skills have an advantage that carries with them throughout their school years.

“We think it is so important that we teach children to learn to love to read early, as foundation for learning,” Foote said. “We really want to promote that. There are goals in our strategic plan for Great Start in terms of early literacy that we are trying to reach. … We hope the Roll and Read will help us achieve that.”

Foote said she hopes there will be a good turn out for the Roll and Read event.

“We want to encourage everyone to come, and we hope this can become an annual event,” she said. “We won’t turn anyone away.”