Community members help children celebrate reading By Laura Peterson, reading specialist Mary Richards, resource teacher the Waupaca Learning Center

“Everyone Reads at Our School!” were the words sung out by students and community members in celebration of Dr. Seuss’ birthday. Not only were these the words of an original song written by the 4th grade students, but in reality this is what happened at the Waupaca Learning Center on March 2nd.

This event was held in conjunction with the National Education Association’s initiative “Read Across America.” Laura Peterson, District Reading Specialist, spearheaded the Waupaca program by inviting community members and area representatives to share their favorite book with children of all ages.

Initial invitations were sent to participate in this round-robin read-a-thon to a variety of community members from business owners to lawyers, from maintenance staff to school board members, from farmers to firefighters, from High School football players, to a retired NFL coach, from bankers to school principals, from doctors and nurses to the mayor and the police officers, along with our Wisconsin State Senator Robert Welch and Courtney Ott, Wisconsin’s Alice in Dairyland.

News of the “Read Across America” family night quickly spread through this small midwest community, which generated many telephone calls. Community members offered their time to either read their favorite stories or assist with other tasks. The response was overwhelming, and this message set the tone for the excitement that evolved.

School time activities generated excitement the week before the event. The classes participated in a door decorating contest where they depicted their class’s favorite book, created Dr. Seuss hats, ate green eggs and ham, read a school-wide proclamation to show the support of reading, and had many extra opportunities for quiet reading time during the day.

Families packed the school eager to listen to their favorite stories. Making a decision on which story to hear was difficult as there were so-o-o many wonderful choices. One family was overheard saying “Do we want to listen to Green Eggs and Ham?, Stelluna, or Teacher From the Black Lagoon?”

The students couldn’t believe that the tough High School Football Player would ever think about being afraid of anything until they heard him read There’s an Alligator In My Bed. How appropriate it was for the fire fighter’s pager to go off as he was finishing reading Curious George Goes to the Fire Station. It also became obvious that our County Judge’s favorite football team may be the Packers when the audience heard him read from Farve: For the Record.

Nearly all members of this small community of about 1,000 elementary-age students turned out to enjoy this celebration of reading. In addition to wonderful stories, the children and adults also enjoyed the festive atmosphere created with colorful balloons, a Dr. Seuss character handing out pencils, a sing-a-long, and birthday cakes and soda.

Many student volunteers assisted to assure that this event was a success. They acted as presiders for the readers, gave directions to the families, and assisted with the refreshments.

This event was a positive community/school partnership which has plans of growing into a larger reading celebration next year. Most readers left messages to make sure they are included in next year’s program. The first graders also volunteered to be readers for the younger children next year. After all “Everyone Reads At Our School.”

Posted June 11, 1998