Rhodes Homes sponsors local literacy program

Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson presented the Golden Apple Award to Jim and Glynda Rhodes Sept. 29 at the APPLE Celebration of Reading at the Henderson Pavilion on behalf of their sponsorship of the APPLE program.

APPLE, a partnership between the city of Henderson and the Clark County School District, stands for All People Promoting Literacy Efforts. It is an ongoing effort to bring community resources to schools, teachers and parents to support families teaching their children to read.

"We totally believe in the program, so it's easy to support it," Glynda Rhodes said. "We know from personal experience that kids who love to read excel in all subjects at school. You have to use reading for everything, even story problems in math class."

The Celebration of Reading is in its third year of bringing authors of children's books to speak to families at the Henderson Pavilion. This year, Marc Brown, author and illustrator of the "Arthur the Aardvark" series, was the guest of honor. In past years, R.L. Stine and Laura Numeroff appeared.

Brown spoke to an audience of several hundred children and parents about the joy he has always gotten from reading and writing, sparking laughter and curiosity among the audience.

"I never dreamed that Arthur would have his own TV show and that kids in 100 countries would know who he was," Brown said. "Arthur's Nose," the first book in the series, was inspired by Brown's son asking for a made-up bedtime story. Now, nearly two decades later, "Arthur" airs on PBS and Brown has written a series of books about the bespectacled third-grade aardvark.

Tom Fay, executive director of the Henderson Library, said Brown's talk was the kick-off event for the year's reading activities, and that the sponsorship of Rhodes Homes is essential to bringing authors to share their love of the written word with local children.

"We want to generate excitement about reading among area children," Glynda Rhodes said. "We want to be a company that has a positive impact on the community."

Rhodes Homes is the developer of Rhodes Ranch in Las Vegas and Tuscany Residential Village in Henderson.

Single-, two- and three-story floor plans are available in both master-planned communities, priced from the $200,000s.

Each neighborhood's sales office is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.

To learn more about Rhodes Homes, visit rhodeshomes.com.