A 'Seussical' Event

Students at Discovery Ridge Elementary kicked off “Read Across America Week” Monday, Jan. 28, with a special visit by The Cat in the Hat during a “Reading Rally” assembly.

Discovery Ridge students welcomed Missouri National Education Association President Chris Guinther and her husband Bill (The Cat) at the assembly to mark the beginning of Read Across America Week.

Read Across American is sponsored annually by the NEA in conjunction with the birthday of children's author Theodore Geisel — better known as Dr. Seuss.

Guinther spoke to the students about the importance of reading and then shared a Dr. Seuss story with the children as The Cat in the Hat looked on.

Their stop at DRE was arranged by Kindergarten Teacher Sarah Teague who thought it would be a great way to kick off the new school’s first annual Literacy Week celebration.

 Elementary schools across the hosted guest readers and sponsored special events to mark the week in an effort to promote a love of reading.

“Providing children with motivation to read is an important factor in student achievement and creating successful, lifelong readers,” according to the MNEA website. “Research has shown that children who are motivated and spend more time reading do better in school.”