Special to the Enquirer
First graders Kaelyn Jones, Lily Yancey, Callie Smith and Eli Joiner join Judge Charles Langham and The Cat in the Hat (a.k.a. Bethany Ricci) to celebrate the birthday of Dr. Seuss.

Students at Eva School participated in “Read Across America.”

This nationwide reading celebration takes place each year on or near March 2, the birthday of beloved children’s author, Theodore S. Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss. “Every child in Morgan County schools celebrated reading last week. 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,” said Patrick Patterson, principal.

To recognize the role that reading plays in our community, Morgan County District Judge Charles Langham administered the “Reader’s Oath” to kick off the day’s reading fun. Students and teachers pledged to read each day and each night because, according to the official oath, each book that they read “puts smarts in my head ‘cause brains grow more thoughts the more they are fed.” Brewer High School ambassadors visited classrooms to share special stories and focus on motivating our students to read. Morgan County Schools Superintendent, Bill Hopkins and Vicki Smith, K-12 curriculum director joined Judge Langham to encourage students to honor the pledge to read each day.

“The Cat in the Hat, Thing 1 and Thing 2”, along with Horton made appearances to visit students and work with small groups,” said Patterson. “Our goal is to share the joy and value of reading with our students as we honor Dr. Seuss on March 2.” Other activities planned for the week included Crazy Socks, Bring Your Favorite Dr. Seuss Book, and Wacky Wednesday where students wear a wacky, mismatched outfit to school. To celebrate Oh the Places You’ll Go and correlate reading with other subjects, students will wear a shirt of a place they have visited.