A mom, weekend news anchor, author, and entrepreneur, Angie Miles is continuously juggling her time to meet all the demands of the day. But, there’s one thing she does make sure she takes time for – reading.
“I have always been an avid reader. I’ve always been passionate about books,” says Miles, the mother of four sons, ages sixteen to twenty-three.
It’s been important for Miles throughout her life to help others cultivate the same love and enjoyment of reading that she has. During her six years at CBS6 in the 1990s, she was the lead reporter for the station’s For Kids Sake franchise. “That was my baby,” she says, noting she’s back at the station anchoring the six and eleven evening newscasts on Saturdays. “We were doing a lot of reporting for the benefit of families and kids.”
Miles now heads up her company, HAPPY Pursuits LLC, which includes the HAPPY Reading Program and HAPPY Reading Camp. HAPPY is the acronym for Home Advantage with Parents as Partners for Youth.
Her company morphed out of a pilot parent involvement program that Governor Mark Warner asked her to lead. “A child’s passion for reading has a direct correlation with the amount of quality time spent reading,” she says. “If children have parents that love reading with them that transfers to the love of books for kids. Parents can really help make a difference.”
Join Angie, Joan, and the RFM team
for a special story time, Saturday,
September 22, 9:15 to 10:00 a.m.,
in the new children’s department at
Saxon Shoes at Short Pump Mall.
Children who find reading enjoyable are more likely to continue that pastime throughout their lives. “Of course we want kids to perform well academically and on standardized tests, but it’s just as important or more important that kids have a sense of enjoyment around the books they choose to read,” Miles says.
Reading together addresses family bonding and critical thinking. “When children become better able to think critically and answer questions and converse intelligently about books, they open a wide array of choices for their whole lives,” she says.
HAPPY Reading Camp helps infuse reading with summer fun. “Hopefully over the course of it, they will enhance their love and skill as readers,” Miles says, adding that her four sons are her primary staff at the camp.
Miles’ picture book, Short Pump Bump, contains poems about people and places in the Richmond area. The poems are geared toward children from preschool to fifth grade.
“The poems encourage kids to look for fun, whimsy, and sweetness wherever they are,” she says. “The book helps them think lyrically about language.”
Her favorite section of the book is Jump Rope Rhymes. “I love them because they are enjoyable to read. I also use them to encourage kids to jump rope, be active, and get outside,” she says.
Miles began writing poetry when she was very young. Her first favorite book was ’Twas the Night Before Christmas. “I love the rhymes, the poetry. I memorized the book when I was two or three,” she says.
She will be releasing a teaching companion to Short Pump Bump that will be offered on Amazon. “It’s an educational opportunity for teachers and parents,” she says. “Next year, I anticipate the release of Spring Zing, poetry about people in Richmond and throughout Virginia.”
For daily inspiration, Miles recalls a quote from Thomas Jefferson that’s on the wall of the CBS6 newsroom: Where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe. For Miles, the reference speaks volumes. “It’s a quote that captures the essence of my life’s work to this point,” she says. “It’s promoting the importance of journalism, literacy and maintaining the freedom and quality that are the best parts of America.”
