Friday, March 4, 2005

Seuss spotted at schools

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By MEGAN THOMAS
Express Staff Writer

The Dr. Seuss team?otherwise known as Blaine County School District teachers, pictured left to right, Jackie Woodruff, Kathleen Diepenbrock, Tricia St. George and Debi Gutknecht?delivered books to district students in celebration of Read Across America Day.

Clones of the Cat in the Hat wandered the halls of local elementary schools this week. Costumed as the famed Dr. Seuss character, a group of teachers distributed books to nearly a thousand Blaine County students.

"Today is a very special Day!" Debi Gutknecht, co-president of the Blaine County Education Association, announced to a second-grade class.

Gutknecht and a team of teachers visited elementary schools on Wednesday, March 2, to celebrate the National Education Association's Read Across America Day. The national reading day coincides with the birthday of Dr. Seuss.

"What better day to celebrate, then on Dr. Seuss' birthday. (The celebration) brings the joy of reading to everyone across the nation," Gutknecht said.

This year to encourage literacy, the Blaine County Education Association chose to distribute books to students. In total, the teachers distributed 960 books.

"That not a bad place to start," Gutknecht commented.

The committee distributed books to all kindergarten to third-grade students in the district.

"When we think about reading, the focus of reading at the kindergarten to third-grade level, is learning how to read," Gutknecht explained.

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Students each chose a book from a long list of titles. The titles, provided by the Read All About It bookstore in Hailey, included books in English and in Spanish.

"Several classes have dual immersion programs, we wanted to give the students the choice between both English and Spanish (books)," Gutknecht said.

The Wood River High School teaching academy contributed to the event by reading to Bellevue students. In addition, the Idaho Education Association, Papoose Club, Rotary Club, WRHS Interact Club and Parent Teacher Organizations in the area contributed to the effort.