Released: March 8, 2024
Week-Long Reading Celebration in Honor of Dr. Seuss’ March 2 Birthday
This week, Delaware County Council visited the students at Chester Community Charter School in Chester and the young students at the Sharon Hill School and Darby Township Elementary School in the Southeast Delco School District to help celebrate National Read Across America Week. The nationwide reading motivation and awareness initiative, established by the National Education Association (NEA) and originally timed to coincide with the birthday of children’s book author Dr. Seuss on March 2nd, has expanded over the years to promote reading year-round and to embrace a diverse range of books that reflect the variety of students and cultures in the country.
As part of the festivities, schools throughout Delaware County and across the nation invite guest speakers from their communities to read to students from books that students can see themselves reflected in, as well as books that allow students to see into a world or a character that might be different than them.
During the week Delaware County Council Chair Dr. Monica Taylor visited Chester Community Charter School to read the timeless story of Dr. Seuss' "Oh, the Places You’ll Go!" to the young minds of Ms. Gallagher’s Kindergarten class and Ms. Cooper’s 1st Grade class.
Dr. Taylor also stopped by later in the week to visit the 3rd grade class of Ms. Knox at the Sharon Hill School to read "Oh, the Places You’ll Go!" and “I am Enough,” by Grace Byers, the empowering children’s story of diversity, self-acceptance, and the beauty of individuality.
During the week, Council Vice Chair Richard Womack joined Ms. Ciallella’s 1st Grade class at the Darby Township School to read Kathryn Otoshi’s “One”, a powerful story that uses colors to show how children can stand up to confront bullying and accept each other's differences—and how it sometimes just takes one voice to make everyone count!
Thank you to Sharon Hill School Principal Nathaniel Robinson and Assistant Principal Danny Ruane, Chester Community Charter School’s Dr. David E. Clark, Jr., and Darby Township School Principal John Austerberry, the teachers, students, and the staff that worked to make the visits so enjoyable.
CREATE AND CELEBRATE: A NATION OF DIVERSE READERS
As part of Read Across America, the NEA invites readers to take the NEA’s Read Across America Diverse Books Challenge and share stories with kids of all ages that are as diverse and complex as the world we live in. When people make the time to read with children, they get the message that reading is important.
Choose from monthly recommendations in the Read Across America digital calendar or search all book lists at www.nea.org/readacross. For more information about Read Across American Day, visit the NEA’s website at www.nea.org.
Delaware County residents are also invited to check out the Delaware County Libraries website at www.delcolibraries.org.