Families in northeast Harris County gathered at the Denver Harbor Multi-Service Center on Saturday, Feb. 24 to play games, read books and celebrate the Legacy of Literacy Day hosted by Harris County Department of Education Head Start, the Assistance League of Houston and the Houston Department of Health and Human Services.

At the inaugural event promoting literacy, children played games for prizes, created arts and crafts and even left with books to build their home libraries. The Assistance League of Houston collected 745 books from various locations and those that were not taken home were donated to Area I Head Start centers.

Through the event, HCDE Head Start Senior Director Venetia Peacock said she hoped children would understand that they can have fun and learn simultaneously. At each activity station, children were invited to pick a book they would like to take home and families participated in story sessions each half-hour.

“The purpose of the event was to support our commitment to further literacy with our youngest learners and their families,” said Assistance League of Houston President Marilyn Brooks. “Because of the close and cordial relationship we have with Head Start, we knew it would be a natural progression to partner with them to implement this new outreach program.”

The event also aimed to recruit families for HCDE Head Start, currently taking applications for the 2018-2019 school year at all 15 centers in northeast Harris County. For more information, or to enroll, visit www.hcde-texas.org/headstart.