Kaunakakai bids adieu to RAP

Program likely to return to Kualapu’u next year

Crowds came out in force again for Read Aloud America’s final Read Aloud Program (RAP) session of the ’06-’07 school year at Kaunakakai school on Wednesday afternoon. The popular program began its Molokai run on January 24 and has been running every two weeks to packed houses ever since.

After RAP founder Jed Gaines introduced a rundown of the evening’s festivities, kids grouped off to read to one another and Gaines gave parents tips on getting kids to develop a love for reading. With just over three hundred people on average attending RAP sessions at Kaunakakai, Gaines says he is encouraged by the public response to the program.

“The best thing about us coming here is that I can see that habits are being changed. People are writing and telling be they’re watching less tv and are spending more time together as a family.” Among other initiatives, RAP pushes a TTTT(TV Turnoff Through Thursday) program which stresses keeping the television off during the work/school week.

RAP’s final installment featured special guest Alan Brennert, author of the best-selling historical novel Moloka`i, published back in 2003. As well as reading excerpts from his novel to the crowd, Brennert gave a short speech about his love of comic books and adventure novels growing up, and how his childhood passions have led to television writing jobs and to helping to write screen-plays about the very comic characters he was so fond of as a youngster. “It just goes to show you, you never know where reading will get you in life.”

The energetic 61-year old Gaines says he is overjoyed by RAP’s success on Molokai and will likely bring the program back to the island next year, at Kualapu`u elementary.