CEDARVILLE — Students from Cedarville University’s School of Education are partnering with the Cedarville branch of the Greene County Public Library and with Lisa Clark, reading specialist at Cedarville Elementary School, to host the 11th annual Family Literacy Night Tuesday, March 14.

All kindergarten through fifth-grade students from Cedarville Elementary School, along with their parents, are invited. About 100 are expected to attend the event.

This year’s theme is “Literacy Luau.” The event will feature beach-themed activities, such as fishing for words and constructing sentences with leis. Cedarville students have collected nearly 250 books to provide as prizes.

“The whole idea is to get resources into the hands of families and to then encourage parents to be interacting with their students around those books,” said Margaret Grigorenko, Ph.D., associate professor of education.

Research indicates that parents are the most influential teachers for students, Grigorenko explained. Since parents spend much more time with students than their teachers, they have an immense impact on whether or not their children read.

The event not only provides resources and promotes parent involvement in education, it helps Cedarville teacher candidates learn how to connect with the community and create positive relationships that will help their students succeed.

“It’s something that the community really looks forward to. It benefits everybody, and it’s just a lot of fun,” Grigorenko said.