Students celebrate Dr. Seuss, reading
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
READING FUN — Kindergartners in Tammy Willey’s class at Pine Street Elementary School were read to March 1 by Leslie Smart as part of Read Across America Day. The annual reading motivation and awareness program calls for every child in every community to celebrate reading March 2, the birthday of beloved children’s author Dr. Seuss.
Since the second was a Saturday, Pine Street observed the event the preceding day. Pictured are, from left, front row: Gavin Plant, Destiny Rossignol, Phineas Cunningham and Dommanick Shorey. Middle row: Jacob Cowett, Alivia Smart, Emilee Taggett, Olivia Goodine and Noah Belmain. Back row: Alex Chasse, Dylan Graham, Logan Smith, Smart (dressed as The Cat in the Hat) and Taylor Daigle.
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE — Wearing red and white-striped hats and red bow ties too, March 1 guest readers visited Pine Street Elementary School. It was all part of Read Across America Day, an occasion that caused kids to shout “Hip Hip Hooray!”
Sponsored by the National Education Association, Read Across America is an annual reading motivation and awareness program that calls for every child in every community to celebrate reading March 2, the birthday of beloved children’s author Dr. Seuss. Since the second was a Saturday, Pine Street observed the event the preceding day.
“This is our 14th year participating in Read Across America Day,” said Jane Foster, reading teacher at Pine Street. “It’s a lot of fun. Dr. Seuss is very popular and the kids love him. They’ve made a lot of his books into movies now, so the kids see those and are familiar with the characters. Where we’re a pre-K to grade 2 building, the children love to see people dressed up in costumes and it’s just fun.
“It’s good for the kids to hear a variety of people read to them. People read differently; some people use voices when they read, so it’s good for the kids to experience that,” she said. “I enjoy it. It’s fun to see their faces when you’re reading to them and you can put a lot into it. With the rhyming, for example, when I say one word, the kindergartners can pretty much predict what the rhyming word is going to be and they can say it back to me so there’s a little participation on their part. It’s a lot of fun. They also ask a lot of questions like how can I get my hat to stand up straight.”
Joining Foster in reading Dr. Seuss books were guest readers Leslie Smart and Ron Farley.
The pre-kindergartners were read “I Wish That I Had Duck Feet” and “There’s a Wocket in My Pocket!” while the kindergartners heard “Ten Apples Up On Top!”, “I Wish That I Had Duck Feet” and “There’s a Wocket in My Pocket!” First-graders heard “The Cat in the Hat Comes Back” and the second-graders were told the story “Horton Hatches the Egg.”
This was Smart’s first year participating in the program.
“This year I offered to be a volunteer for the library and when I knew that Dr. Seuss Day was coming up, I told Mrs. Foster that I would be more than willing to come and help out and dress up,” she said. “I read to eight different classrooms. I love books; you can’t ever have enough books and it’s important to pass that love onto children.”
Making the event even more special for Smart was that she got to read to three of her own children’s classrooms.
“Alivia is in kindergarten, Frederick is in first grade and Emma is in second grade,” said Smart. “Alivia saw me coming around the corner as the Cat in the Hat for the first time and her eyes got the size of saucers. It was amazing. To be able to read to them — and their classmates — is wonderful because you get to see their faces as you’re reading the book and they laugh at the passages. They get a kick out of you dressing up and it brings it all home for them.”
The Elementary PTO purchased pencils, erasers and small notepads for each child to commemorate the special day.
As an added treat, the students were served a colorful Dr. Seuss cake for dessert.
