On Friday, February 4, the Star Apple Educational Foundation, which is the charity of Eloise Gonsalves, wife of the Prime Minister, held its first ever “Star Apple Teatime Storytelling Time” session at the Questelles Learning Resource Centre at 4 pm.{{more}}

The session was set up by Star-Apple to help bring the joy of reading back to children and to motivate children to start reading again.

The event was sponsored by Premier Distributors (SVG) Limited who provided refreshments, as well as Bermudez and Holiday Foods Snacks for the children. Approximately 80 children from the Questelles area were in attendance and they thoroughly enjoyed the programme.

The session began with a short speech given by Anneliese Percy, Manager of the Star-Apple Educational Foundation. Percy urged the children of Questelles to join the Questelles Star Apple Library, which was recently renovated by Star-Apple, and to start reading for fun and visiting the library to borrow books. Her address was followed by two storytelling sessions done by Rhonda Dickson and Alexandra Paolino, as well as a puppet show which was put on by the members of the Star-Apple Educational Foundation and friends. Anne Jones, the Zone Coordinator of the Questelles Learning Resource Centre, also put on a great show as she taught the children a series of Caribbean games and rhymes, which they enjoyed tremendously. The programme ended with face painting for the children and snacks, courtesy Premier Distributors.

The Star Apple Educational Foundation hopes to take the “Star Apple Teatime Storytime” parties to Learning Resouce Centres all across the country in the coming months, in a drive to raise awareness of the importance of reading among children and their parents.

Star-Apple was developed in April 2010, by founder Eloise Gonsalves, to get the children of St. Vincent and the Grenadines reading again.