Hundreds of students at
Richard L. Brown and Rutledge H. Pearson elementary schools participated in Read Across America Day when the Cat-a-Van tour - featuring the famous feline, the Cat in the Hat - stopped in Jacksonville on March 4.
Read Across America, sponsored by the National Education Association (NEA), motivates students to read and celebrates reading on or around Dr. Seuss's birthday.
During the event, the elementary students wore the Cat's famous stripped hat as they listened to local celebrities read Dr. Seuss books.
Celebrity readers included: Duval County Public Schools Superintendent Ed Pratt-Dannals, Chief Academic Officer Amy Lingren and Dr. Jim Williams, chief officer for the superintendents standard bearer schools; School Board members Betty Burney and Brenda Priestly-Jackson; First Coast News Anchor Jeanie Blaylock; New York Giants Wide Receiver Mike Jennings (a graduate of Forrest High School); Terrie Brady, president of Duval Teachers United; and members of the city council.
During the presentation, members of NEA presented each school with a $1,000 check for the library. The Florida Education Association matched each check with an additional $1,000 donation.
NEA launched the
Read Across America program in 1997, and it has become the nation's largest reading celebration, with more than 45 million students expected to participate in the program this year.
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