What We Do
Read To Me International promotes reading aloud to children through:
- Parent coaching programs at Hawai‘i’s schools, community sites, and correctional facilities
- Presentations and workshops for parents, educators and other interested groups
- Read alouds at schools and community gatherings
- National-quality annual conferences
- Support for parents of young children living in transitional and affordable housing
Our Mission
Share the love and joy of reading aloud.
Goals
- Ensure that every child is read to every day for at least 10 minutes.
- Model good read aloud techniques.
- Promote reading aloud to a broader audience of stakeholders.
Staff
President
Lynne Waihee
As a youngster, Lynne Waihee found magic in her otherwise mundane life through the world of princesses and princes, fairy tales and fables. In real life, Read To Me International President Lynne Waihee has led a charmed life as a former First Lady of Hawai‘i, during which time she served as the Honorary Chair for the Governor’s Council for Literacy. A former high school English teacher, literacy was a perfect fit for her role as First Lady, and Waihee has now championed childhood literacy’s cause for over 23 years. She recalls with fondness reading in bed to her own children, John IV and Jennifer, and anxiously awaits the day she has grandchildren to whom she can read. Meanwhile, she finds great joy in reading aloud to anyone’s children, and to adults as well . . . including husband John.
Executive Director
Kara Kusunoki
Kara Kusunoki began her career as a public school teacher. Teaching was an invaluable experience that inspires her to support youth and their caregivers. Kusunoki has worked in the education and healthcare industries with a focus on nonprofit administration. Though she studied finance and politics in college, her passion is reading; she is grateful to have supportive family members and teachers who contributed to her library of books growing up. Kusunoki believes in Read To Me International’s mission because she has experienced how reading aloud stimulates children’s emotional and academic development, and can provide readers different ways to see the world.
Program and Site Assistant
Karla Tactay Teixeira
Karla Tactay Teixeira is a past Read To Me program participant and is now excited to be a part of the Read To Me family working with parents to encourage their keiki’s love for reading. Karla is a mother and wife raising her family in Wai‘anae, and has served in both the Hawai‘i and Florida Air National Guard. Her love for reading grew as she was read to as a child, and as a mother she continues these traditions with her own children.
Intern
Irene Abut
Irene Abut was born and raised on Maui. After graduating high school in 2016 she spent two years studying at Seattle Pacific University before transferring to Hawai’i Pacific University to complete her degree in English. As a child she has always been inspired by the stories that she read, the lessons that they taught, the places that they allowed her to go and the people that they let her be. She joined Read To Me International to not only share the joys of reading to others but also to show the importance of reading in our day-to-day lives. When she’s not in class or at work she enjoys reading novels, writing fiction and creative nonfiction pieces, traveling and learning new things.