Read Across America / Dr. Seuss Day

National Education Association's Read Across America is an annual reading motivation and awareness program that calls for every child in every community to celebrate reading on March 1, in honor of beloved children's author Dr. Seuss. Watonwan County/St. James Library worked with Northside Elementary School to create an event to bring reading excitement to children. Robert and Lynn Halbrook held two Dr. Seuss Magic Shows at the school. One for grades K, 2, and 4; the other for grades 1, 3 and 5. While one group was watching the magic show, the other group was split up by grade and bussed to the library for a tour, a Dr. Seuss bottle cap necklace craft, a snack (paid for by the school), Dr. Seuss movie-watching and reading. The Cat in the Hat welcomed the kids into the library and all staff/volunteers wore Cat in the Hat or Horton costumes. Teachers in the school dressed up like Thing 1 and Thing 2 and ran around causing mischief. The library was decorated beautifully with Seuss stuffed animals, posters, balloons and more. Motivating children to read is an important factor in student achievement and creating lifelong successful readers. Research has shown that children who are motivated and spend more time reading do better in school. Northside Elementary School is a priority school (bottom 5 percent of Title I schools). A focus on reading is at the heart of the school's improvement philosophy. The library is deeply appreciative at receiving this grant so that we could help excite kids about reading and to have the opportunity to promote our library.