Read Across America
Grab a Hat and Read with a Cat
by Rhiannon Svitak
March 11, 2008
The entire Crete Elementary School celebrated NEA's Read Across America and the birthday celebration of Dr. Seuss on Monday, March 3rd. Read Across America is held each year on March 2—the birthday of beloved children's author Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss. The program provides children with motivation to read and delivers an important message: Kids who read—and are read to—do better in school and in life.
We began the day with a school full of kids wearing hats and reading with “cats." The lunchroom was decorated with balloons courtesy of Abloom floral and students were able to watch Dr. Seuss videos while eating a “Who Hash” sandwich, 1 fry 2 fries, “Sneech” fruit, and “Mt. Crumpit” birthday cake. We ended the day with a school wide birthday party assembly. Several special guests helped us emphasize the importance of reading. Lieutenant Governor Rick Sheehy talked about how important reading was, then read an oath to all the students. The oath emphasized the importance of reading.
The other special guests included Thomas the Doane Tiger and Cat in the Hat. They were there to help us celebrate in Dr. Seuss style! They helped present a giant cake, sing Happy Birthday, and attempted to read 3 different books with Mr. Schroder before deciding on the book, “Horton Hears a Who.” Students listened to “Horton Hears a Who” through the new kid friendly website, www.kidthing.com. The day ended with each class receiving a present. The present included a book from the Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) Federal Program, bookmarks, and certificates of participation. Several adults from the community volunteered their time to come and read their favorite Dr. Seuss book to many of our classes.
Doane SEA sponsored a Draw for Dr. Seuss coloring contest. The winners were announced at the birthday celebration and won a free book from Scholastic. All the drawings submitted were made into placemats for the Tabitha Nursing Center in Crete.
A special thanks goes out to Abloom Floral for providing birthday balloons for our cafeteria, True Value for donating supplies and time to making a “run through” for the giant cake.
It was a “Seuss”tacular time and the students can hardly wait to see who comes next year to help us celebrate Read Across America.
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Be on the look out in your child’s backpack for a coupon from the Isis Theater in order to promote all families to see the new movie “HORTON HEARS A WHO.” Check the local paper for times and showings. Thank you to Isis Theater for this generous contribution to Read Across America.
