by Shawn Nowlin
Established 20 years ago by the National Education Association (NEA), Read Across America Day is an annual nationwide reading celebration that takes place on March 2 – the birthday of legendary cartoonist and book publisher Dr. Seuss. Each of the 18 Roanoke City elementary schools celebrated the occasion this year with snacks, books, creative hats and some special visitors.
National Honor Society students from Patrick Henry and William Fleming High School spent the day with elementary school students. “I’m one of the co-sponsors of the National Honors Society,” said history teacher Justin Halterman. “Each student had to fill out an interest form to get selected. We are getting ready for English SOLs (Standard of Learning tests) next week so they had to get permission from their teachers to miss today.”
Dr. Seuss is responsible for some of the greatest children’s books of all time: “The Cat in the Hat”, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”, “One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish”, “The Sneetches and Other Stories” and “Hop on Pop”. A few third and fourth graders said they have read most of Dr. Seuss’ books.
“My mom use to collect them when she was younger and she gave them to me last year for my birthday,” one child said with a huge smile. Another added, “I was told by my dad that ‘How the Grinch stole Christmas’ was the first book that I ever read.”
Reading Specialist Becky Harmon said she loves Read Across America Day because it’s great for everyone involved. Students from kindergarten to the 4th grade were all given the chance to read with a high school buddy today. After reading, they wrote about some of their favorite books, nonsense words and goals as a reader,” said Becky. “This interaction really encourages students to become lifelong readers.”
According to Guidance Counselor Mary Gregory, this year’s Read Across America Day went exactly how she thought it would. “As a staff, we look forward to this day every year. Everyone involved did a great job!”
Hysterical Blindness actress Uma Thurman suffered from dyslexia as a child. For years, she has used her platform to spread awareness of National Read Across America Day along with countless other celebrities. “As a mother of three, with one now a teenager, I’ve seen the benefits of reading to and with my children throughout the span of childhood. Reading has helped develop my children and my family. Spending that time together means so much.”
Many of the students went home Thursday evening with a colorful hat and a few bookmarks.
