Read Across America
Lauren Estes
Hartselle Enquirer
Hartselle Çity and Morgan County Schools participated in the Read Across America event that lasted an entire week celebrating all things Dr. Seuss, and of course, reading.
Falkville third grade students Taylor Smith, 8, Adalyn Taylor, 8, and Maggie Bramlett, 9, each enjoyed the different dress up days the school hosted.
Bramlett said she knew right off, what her favorite book was, which had been read this week., as well as, her favorite dress-up day
“The Cat in the Hat Comes Back,” Bramlett said. “It’s really funny because he tries to make a mess again in the story. My mom and me made my socks and we put googley eyes on them. It made them look funny. ‘
Taylor sad her favorite dress-up day of the week made her laugh.
“We got to do ‘Mixed up Monday’ and that means everyone gets to wear wacky clothes or clothes that don’t match,” Taylor said. “We could even wear our shirts inside out. “
Smith said his stepmom helped make his socks for Wacky Sock Wednesday.
“Yeah we made them,” Smith said. “We picked these because they look good. Wacky Wednesday was my favorite day because we even got to pick wacky stuff to read too.”
Falkville hosted many community readers including representatives from Vulcan Materials, the Falkville Police Department and members of the county office, as well as, former and retired Falkville employees.
Pre-school Hartselle Head Start teacher Maegan Farragher said her 3-5 year-olds also were surprised with readers from the community, including Hartselle Mayor Randy Garrison.
“We’ve been having readers from the community come in and read all week and within our company, as well as, the CEO here yesterday,” she said. “We decorated the room for our reading theme which was Dory and ‘Just Keep Reading.’ The kids came in amazed at the decorations in the classroom and the first thing they asked was, ‘Whose birthday is it?’ The kids have enjoyed reading a variety of books.”
Head Start five-year-old Karlee Draper said her favorite book the teachers read this week has been a dinosaur book.
“I like dinosaurs because I like to learn about them,” Draper said. “When I made a costume last year I learned about dinosaurs and now I really like them.”
Four-year-old Noah Stracener said his favorite book was Mrs. Mary Mack, because “It’s a fun one to read,” he told the Enquirer.
Crestline Elementary kindergarten class led by
Mrs. Tammy Jenkins and Mrs. Sonya Lett helped make a Cat in the Hat project where each student was able to draw their own cat face. Each student was able to use their own creativity and draw what they wanted their Cat in the Hat to look like.
Barkley Bridge Elementary Librarian Jamie Dutton enjoyed reading Dr. Seuss books to students, including pre-k classes led by Cindy Hageman and Amanda Smith. The students would follow along in the Yertle the Turtle book and then participated in STEM activities that represented skills they learned through the book. Barkley Bridge third grade students in John Mark Waynick’s classroom read in the dark in their Dr. Seuss hats for their class’s theme.
F.E. Burleson Elementary School Principal Debra Queen read to Terry Hughes third grade class Thursday morning.
Queen was able to share with the students both information through the book she was reading and that of the 100-year celebration the school is having.
The National Education Association celebrates Read Across America Week each year in connection to March 2 for the author, Dr. Seuss’s birthday. The NEA is in their 20th year celebrating this event nationwide.