During the week was Dr. Seuss’ birthday, March 2. Dr. Seuss, Theodor Geisel, is a favorite author among children and adults. He wrote more than 40 books in his lifetime. His birthday is an occasion to bring together children of all ages, as well as adults, to enjoy reading.

Dunkirk Primary School 5 spent the week celebrating Dr. Seuss. Posters and life-sized cutouts of The Cat in the Hat were hung in the hallways. In the hallway, leading to the cafeteria, is a wall similar to “Where’s Waldo” where the students’ faces were glued to either Thing 1 or Thing 2. It was a very popular place to stop and see who they could recognize. Each day featured a different theme for what students could wear to school – Hat day for Cat in the Hat was one of the days.

The highlight of the week was Dr. Seuss’ birthday. Nearly 40 adults from various nearby communities visited School 5 for the afternoon to read with the students.

Readers came from various walks of life, retired teachers, policemen, members of the Juneteenth committee, Board of Education members, the mayor, business owners, as well as friends and relatives of the staff.

Linda Liedke was a guest reader.

As they entered the school they were welcomed by Dave Boyda, building principal and Connie Glasier, event coordinator. At the registration table they were given name tags, Dr. Seuss bottles of water and homemade thank-you gifts, consisting of Truffula trees in a clay pot, filled with candy that were made by Ms. Wilma Hernandez (a classroom aide in the Bilingual Kindergarten class).

The guests gathered in the school library and those needing books were able to choose a couple to read to their groups. Most of the readers brought their own favorite books with them.

Student escorts came to guide their class readers to the correct rooms. Once in the rooms the readers were given a group of three to four students with whom to share their own stories, including why they like to read, before reading their books to the students. The student escorts showed the guest readers to the cafeteria where they were able to enjoy refreshments and punch, while socializing with other readers.

Refreshments were based on several Dr. Seuss books, such as Green Eggs and Ham, pretzels topped with melting chocolate, Truffula Seeds (jelly beans), One Fish Two Fish (goldfish crackers) and cut-outs from many other books. It was a fantastic experience for the students, as well as the guests. Everyone agreed it was great to be back after being on pause due to the COVID pandemic.