A Day Of Reading

It's not every day young students get to come to school in their pajamas and hear stories read to them.

But that's what happened on Friday.

All of Dublin's elementary schools participated in Read-in-Day to celebrate the 108th birthday of author Dr. Seuss. It was part of the National Education Association's Read Across America celebration.

On Friday, children got to come to school wearing pajamas and they were treated to a series of guest readers who brought in their favorite children's stories and read them to the pupils.

Amy Miller, a Dublin school board member who helped organized Friday's reading program, said it's important for children to relax and hear stories in our fast-paced, technology-driven world.

"I'm all about reading," said Miller. "There are kids listening today who might never get read to."

The Read-in-Day was in full force at on Friday. The mascot from pizza parlor came to visit along with a number of guest readers.

One of them was Janet Lockhart, a retired school librarian and former mayor, who brought along several books she's written about the Land of O, where every character's name starts with the letter O.

Lockhart read in seven classes on this special day, including three at Dublin Elementary.

"It spurs their imagination," said Lockhart. "It's giving them a visualization of something that was created."

Lockhart finished her reading day at noon by reciting one of her books to Michelle Wigand's kindergarten class.

The teacher as well as about half of her 22 students in attendance wore pajamas as Lockhart read her words while the pages of her book were reflected through a SMART Board onto a screen.

The reading day was organized by Dublin Partners in Education.

Other volunteer readers included:

Sara Brown and Leor Levin, Dublin Middle School counselors

David Haubert, school board member

Derek Rosas and Keoki Yee, CSEA officers

Lori Beth Eisenstadt, parent volunteer

Dublin firefighters, station 16.

The program coordinators included Martha Jean Klein, Amy Miller, Jessica Nelson and Lisa Voit.