Students to “Read Across America”
By Donnie A. Lucas
Nancy Smith Elementary students will once again observe National Read Across America Day on Thursday with special activities scheduled for all age groups.
The day set aside to celebrate reading on a national level is March 2, held annually in conjunction with the birthday of famed children’s author Dr. Seuss. The event is sponsored by the National Education Association.
Locally, community members are brought in to read to various grade levels.
As a special treat this year, Nancy Smith Elementary’s own first grade teacher Erica Landeros will read a book she wrote to Pre-K through second grades in the cafeteria at 2:00 p.m.
In addition to the individual community readers participating in the morning, students in grades 3-6 will be visited by the high school theater arts class to share reader’s theater materials, according to event coordinator and Dyslexia coordinator Kristie Smith.
Read Across America is a year-round program focused on motivating children and teens to read through special events, partnerships and reading resources.
“We hope that children are inspired to love to read and become lifetime readers.” Smith said.
The public is invited to volunteer as a reader, but all visitors must check in through the front office to enter the school.
Landeros’ book is entitled “Okie Dokie, Maddox Oakley!” and is available online at tradition bookstores such as Barnes and Nobles, as well as online from Amazon.com.
“Okie Dokie, Maddox Oakley!” is a fun-loving juvenile fiction that encourages young readers to play and explore their imagination. Landeros is a proud mother of two who is serving her second year as an AISD teacher.
“Okie Dokie, Maddox Oakley” is a fun children’s book highlighting the funny quirks of a little boy with an imagination as big as the moon. If he is not a superhero saving people from slimy monsters, he is king of the playground castle, a cowboy chasing off robbers and bandits, or an astronaut fighting off big green aliens! In “Okie Dokie, Maddox Oakley,” readers will get to meet superheroes, cowboys, astronauts, samurai warriors, and Maddox’s sister, Nelly. Although Maddox was a tiny boy, his mother’s love for him was huge, according to press information that accompanied the book’s launch in January.
