March 8, 2010

A Reading Boost to Celebrate Dr. Seuss

The 186th Street Elementary School students, staff, and parents enjoyed a Reading Pajama Party to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday on Thursday, March 4, 2010.  The children and staff members had a chance to wear their pajamas to school all day and culminate the evening with a reading celebration and a magic show.  All of the students and parents gasped with excitement when a group of special guests from one of their favorite Dr. Seuss’ books, The Cat in the Hat, stopped by to promote literacy.  Team members from the Target Store in Gardena brought The Cat in the Hat, Thing 1, and Thing 2 to join in the celebration.

Students were able to enjoy a choice of stories read by teachers and college students in different rooms with themes to promote a college going culture at the beginning of the event.  Fairy Tales were read in the USC Trojans’ Arena; stories about animals were read in the UCLA Bruins’ Den; books to promote peace and diversity were read in the Loyola Lions’ Lair; and story time with Dr. Seuss was held in the 186th Street Arts Academy.  After the students finished listening to the stories, they received a free book to increase their pleasure reading libraries at home and support the academic play of reading 15-20 minutes every evening called by Principal Reed. The play is called Operation R.E.E.D. (Read Every Evening Diligently).  The books were donated by the Molina Foundation and the Reading is Fundamental Program to promote reading, and the Kaiser Permanente Health Foundation donated healthy snacks to promote good nutrition.

The highlight of the evening was having the children bring their sleeping bags into the auditorium, sit on the floor with their friends, and culminate the Reading Pajama Party with a fantastic Magic Show by Mark, the Magician from “Magic with Aloha.”  Mr. Kiyabu’s show kept the children and parents on the edge of their seats, laughing, clapping, and trying to figure out the magician’s magic.  His show fit right in to the reading theme when he changed an ace of spade in a card trick to his favorite card of all, a library card.  He told the children “a library card can be magical because you can check out all kinds of books, even books about magic.” The parents and teachers cheered to see that even a magic trick can emphasize that “Readers are Leaders!”  The sight of students and parents enjoying an evening of quality entertainment and family time made the day a great success.

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