IT was a day of fun, frolic and ‘edutainment’ for the 160 students, ages five to 12 years old, who travelled from seven schools across the island to participate in the “Reading is Cool” event hosted by Sagicor Foundation and Lasco iCool.

The activity, which is in its second staging, is held in honour of Child Month to reinforce the importance and the value of reading, as well as cultivating the habit of reading from an early age.The seven schools that participated were: Bath Early Childhood Institution in Westmoreland; Glendevon Primary and Junior High in St James; Maranatha Basic School in Kingston; New Day Primary also in Kingston; Rollington Town Primary and Small Treasures Child Care, both in Kingston; as well as Treadlight Primary in Clarendon.“At Sagicor, education is one of our primary corporate social responsibility focus, and the ‘Reading is Cool’ event is one of the avenues through which we engage our younger children and expose them to reading in a different environment outside the classroom, where their imaginations are ignited by the sights and sounds of the zoo animals,” said Ingrid Card, executive director Sagicor Foundation.Radio personality Jenny Jenny hosted the event and kept the children entertained with various activities and trivia throughout the day while poet Amina Blackwood Meeks awakened the imagination of the children through her vivid storytelling skills, which had the children captivated the whole time. The featured reading book for the day was

Aiden and the Apple Tree by Jamaican author Johnathon Kelly.Catherine Goodall, LASCO’s marketing manager — Beverages, noted: “LASCO’S mission and vision speak to nation building, and where better to impact than with our youths, as youth development and education are major focus areas for LASCO.Throughout the day, the children and adults were kept refreshed with Lasco iCool and Lasco Food Drink, while Reggae Jammin provided burgers and hot dogs.