By Julia Berg

On Valentine’s Day, Ze, a second grader, helps Sierra, a first grader, with her daily reading homework by selecting the book.

They each pick out a piece of candy to eat while they read.

Sierra lays the books in her reading bag on the table so Ze can see the options. After examining the covers, she chooses one of the two Pinkalicious books. Since they are both wearing pink for Valentines day, they have a discussion about which of them is Pinkalicious and what color the other is, noting that if they really were Pinkalicous they would have to wear the color every day.

When they finish reading, Ze and Sierra join the rest of the group to decorate a hanging heart. Each student selects a red heart that has a hole at the top with a ribbon through it. They decorate their hearts with numerous stickers and rainbow scratch art.

Volunteer Julia Berg tells us lively stories about our summer and after-school students at the Carver Community Center. See more of her stories here.