Wesconnett Elementary School welcomed an Olympic Gold medalist, a local author and several other ‘celebrities’ for its Celebrity Reading Day on November 18.
The entire student body gathered in the cafeteria to meet their readers and to hear words of wisdom from the guest speakers.
Principal Mike Akers discussed his fondness for reading, due in large part to the fact that his mother read to him as a child. He also thanked the celebrity readers for taking the time to read to his students.
Nancy Hogshead-Makar, an Olympic Gold Medal swimmer and professor at the Florida Coastal School of Law, was the keynote speaker for the event. She encouraged all of the students to work hard to achieve their dreams.
“It is easier to give up on your dreams than to work to fulfill them,” Hogshead-Makar said. “You must fight to make your dreams become a reality.”
Thelma Young, the author of All You Could See Was the Water: Hurricane Katrina through the Eyes of Children, a book that captures the personal experiences of 11 children who survived Hurricane Katrina, visited several classrooms reading chapters to students.
Rodilyn Bacho-Logsdon, Duval County Public Schools’ (DCPS) Supervisor of ELA/Reading, spent time in a first-grade classroom reading
Horrible Holly’s Pet Raptor by Michael Ratnett. Bacho-Logsdon reminded students how important reading is for writing.
“Good readers are good writers,” she said. “Read to write, write to read.”
Celebrity Reading Day is part of Literacy Week at Wesconnett Elementary, and was organized by Media Specialist Julia Cramer. Cramer believes that her students will benefit greatly from having an adult read to them.
“Literacy is my passion and I am the highest advocate of it,” said Cramer. “Research has shown that if you read to children they will become life-long readers.”
Other guest readers included: Dr. Amy Lingren, DCPS’ Chief Officer, K-8 Education for Cluster I; Andrea Akers, principal of Fishweir Elementary; Katy Kearson, standards coach at S.A. Hull Elementary; Barbara Spurlin, former principal of Oak Hill Elementary and author of I Wish I Had a Pony; Jud Strickland, principal of S.A. Hull Elementary; Beverly Walker, principal of Chaffee Trail Elementary; and Kristina Broome, technical manager in the DCPS' Communications Department.
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