Cookson Elementary School celebrated Dr. Seuss’ birthday last week by implementing the National Education Association’s (NEA) Read Across America initiative. Now in its 19th year nationally, the annual program focuses on motivating children to read. Events, partnerships, and reading resources are available to schools all over the country. As first time participants in last week’s celebration of reading, Cookson Elementary educators and administrators were encouraged by the results. In the words of Dr. Seuss, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”

Principal Stephanie Johnson first heard about Read across America from Mrs. Oaks, the librarian, and Primary Reading Specialist Mrs. Jacobs. “This is a very young, energetic, creative building,” Johnson said. “They take me along for the ride and the results are often awesome.” It was a uniquely appropriate year for Cookson to begin the program. On March 1, 2016 President Barak Obama signed a proclamation establishing Read Across America Day. According to the proclamation, “The moment we persuade a child to pick up a book for the first time we change their lives forever for the better, and on Read Across America Day, we recommit to getting literary works into our young peoples’ hands early and often.”

At Cookson, children were inspired to learn and enjoyed exciting new themes each day from Monday, February 29 through Friday, March 4.The events of the week included a door decorating contest for each class, guest readers from the community, daily special announcements about Dr. Seuss and trivia questions for prizes. Monday was Thing 1 & Thing 2 Day where children picked a friend and dressed alike. Children wore fun socks on Tuesday for Fox in Sox Day. Wednesday was a day to wear stripes. Thursday was the iconic Cat in the Hat Day and Friday was the grand finale where all the students wore Read Across America or Cookson Elementary t-shirts and enjoyed the reading selections of guest readers. “Our goal is to share with our students that there is something to love about reading for everyone,” Johnson said. “Reading is an important part of all of our lives.”

Mayor Beamish read his favorite book “Mayor for a Day” to all the 3rd grade students at 9:00 a.m. on Friday. “It’s always a great thing to read for the kids,” Mayor Beamish said. “It’s these kinds of ventures that inspire kids to find favorite books and nurture their love for reading; I love being a part of it.” Other favorite books brought by guest readers included “Meet Wild Boars, Koala Lou, Round Robin” read by Ginny Beamish, “The Penguin Who Hated Cold” read by former Cookson students Abbey and Austin Jacobs and Danielle McDonagh, “The Energy Bus” read by Coach Matt Burgbacher, “Green Eggs and Ham” read by Tytus Jacobs, and “My Many Colored Days” read by Johnson’s husband and daughter, Aaron and Gabrielle Johnson. Each guest reader also cast a vote for their favorite door in the door decorating contest. The winners included Mrs. Spears’ 3rd grade class, Mrs. Fiely’s Kindergarten class, Mrs. Furrow’s class and Mrs. Niswonger’s 1st grade class. Each class received 30 extra minutes of recess time as the prize for winning.

“Experiences like these make learning magical,” Johnson said. “We are so excited to be a part of that experience for such a great group of children.” Johnson alluded to the fact that this year’s success with the program will likely precipitate its inclusion in the schedule in coming years at Cookson Elementary School. For more information on the NEA’s Reading Across America program and President Barak Obama’s proclamation on March 1, please see nea.org.