57 readers share their favorite stories with students
'The kids were thrilled. It was a win-win today.'
Students made some new friends on Friday morning as 57 guests filled Thurgood Marshall Elementary School to read tales of cats in hats and green eggs and ham for Read Across America Day.
Grown-ups of all stripes descended on the school on March 1 to share their favorite stories with the elementary school students. And although Dr. Seuss books were not required, they proved to be the most popular, as the event coincides with the popular author’s birthday.
Reading specialist Maria Ursino, who organized the event, was “really pleased with the turnout,” she said. Senator Jennifer Beck [pictured above] attended, as did assemblywomen Carolyn Casagrande and Mary-Pat Angelini and Congressman Frank Pallone. Superior Court judges Lawrence Lawson and Honora O’Brien Kilgallen also read to some classes.
Asbury Park Mayor Ed Johnson and Deputy Mayor John Loffredo read to students, as did Fire Chief Kevin Keddy, board of education members Angela Ahbez-Anderson and Geneva Smallwood, and Asbury Park Sun Editor Molly Mulshine.
Monmouth County Undersheriff Mickey Donovan, Asbury Park Patrolman Michael Casey, and Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni also attended. New Jersey Natural Gas sent a whopping 20 delegates, all of whom brought their own books and donated them to the school after reading them to their classes.
Ursino made sure to include diverse readers in her planning, she said.
“I think it’s important for the children to see that everyone finds enjoyment in reading,” she said. “We’re looking for good role models for our children. We tried to get some diversity amongst our careers, and tried to represent the diversity that we find in our children.”
Many readers were highly successful women, Ursino said, which “sends a very positive message to our young ladies, that this could be them someday.”
Ursino was happy to hear many readers say they “saw the positive things that happen inside our walls,” she said. “Quite often, people get a negative impression of what we do here. I think a lot of times, they’re pleasantly surprised.”
And, of course, “the kids were thrilled,” she said. “It was a win-win today. There was a lot of good achieved.”
