March 2 is known as ‘Read Across America Day’ or ‘Dr. Seuss Day’, and is celebrated in the United States to celebrate the birthday of Dr. Seuss. This celebration began in 1997 by the National Education Association as a reading initiative. It has been recognized annually since that time. The focus of ‘Read Across America’ is to motivate children to read more books and get them excited about reading.
Over the last several years, Stephen F Austin (SFA) Elementary along with the other Dayton ISD elementary schools, have focused on sharing books that were written by Dr. Seuss. However, this year, they celebrated ‘Read Across America’ a little earlier this year due to the upcoming book fair that will be held on that campus during the March 2 week.
Guest readers were asked to bring a favorite book or select one with SFA librarian Carrie Yarbrough.
“The students really loved the various children’s books and different genres that the guest readers shared with the students. I enjoyed watching and listening too, as they met in the library for the special reading time,” Yarbrough said.
Principal Atiya Wortham added, “We invited Dayton ISD administrators, School Board Members, and a local author to read their favorite books to kindergarten through second grade classes during their library time. SFA students greatly enjoyed the special guest readers. We appreciate all of the guest readers who came out and read to our children. This is always one of our favorite times of the year. It is important for our students to see that our administrators and Board Members are passionate about reading.”