Community asked to join Read Across America in our local schools
DEMING - Marking the birthday of beloved children’s author Dr. Seuss, March is an important month for students in the Deming Public Schools as well as across the country.
Read Across America Day is celebrated by students, teachers and librarians nationwide and the local acknowledgement will take place on Thursday, March 2, as a day of literacy and appreciation for the author’s contribution to children’s reading.
Events will be held district wide at elementary schools with guests from the community visiting select schools to read various Dr. Seuss stories to classes. In previous years, DPS has had students in higher grades visit classrooms and read to the younger students.
“I think Dr. Seuss books are a lot of fun for children,” said Gila Reading Council President Harriet Juricich. “We want to do everything we can to get children reading and enjoying books. If they start reading young, then it will be something they enjoy for the rest of their lives.”
Schools in DPS like Chaparral Elementary understand reading is a vital part of a student’s success and because of this the school holds events for an entire week for Read Across America. While school officials find it important that students read year round, the celebration is a reminder to the students that reading can be a fun activity.
Chaparral will host several events this week including a Dr. Seuss costume day, a pajama day and a cake day where students will be allowed to bake a Dr. Seuss themed cake and bring it to share with the class.
The celebration will continue as students from Deming High School’s National Honor Society come in to read Dr. Seuss books to all the classes.
“The students get really excited,” sad Librarian Susan Matkin. “The people who come to read always stress the importance of learning to read and learning to read well.”
For the past 12 years, Matkin has assisted with Read Across America festivities at Chaparral and says the students look forward to the events every year.
The national day is sponsored by the National Education Association and has been conducting events across the U.S. for the past 20 years. The ultimate goal of the day is to promote reading for younger students in schools and to show students that reading is a vital part of their futures. The national events also extend from schools to children’s hospitals.
For more information on what your school is doing for Read Across America day, contact Deming Public Schools at 575-546-8841.
Jesse Moya can be reached at 575-546-2611 (ext 2608) or at firstname.lastname@example.org.