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Chancellor Puts on Her Reading Hat to Celebrate Dr. Seuss Birthday
Ioana Patringenaru | March 5, 2007
Stretch out your arms, UCSD Chancellor Marye Anne Fox said. Now imagine you’re holding hands with boys and girls all over the United States, from New York to New Mexico. “Do you feel that energy all across the country,” she asked dozens of kindergartners sitting on the floor Friday at Hawthorne Elementary School in Clairemont.
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Chancellor Marye Anne Fox read "The Cat in the Hat" to kindergartners and first graders at Hawthorne Elementary School in Clairemont on March 2. |
 Click here to view the slide show. |
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“I feel hundreds of energy,” a little boy piped up. “Me too,” another chimed in.
That’s good, Fox said, because Friday was Read Across America day, when schools celebrate reading and the birthday of children books author Theodor Geisel, also known as Dr. Seuss. UCSD, home of the Geisel Library, celebrated the day with a cake-cutting on Library Walk attended by hundreds of students, faculty and staff. The UCSD Bookstore, University Centers and Associated Students Volunteer Connection also organized a book drive from Feb. 16 to March 2.
This year’s celebration marked the 50th anniversary of “The Cat in the Hat,” one of Dr. Seuss’ best-selling books. So Friday morning, Chancellor Fox read the book to kindergartners and first graders at Hawthorne Elementary. She visited classrooms and answered children’s questions about college. She also asked some questions of her own.
What’s important about today, Fox asked about 60 kindergartners and first graders huddled on the floor of the library at Hawthorne Elementary. “It’s pajama day,” one boy guessed. “We get to eat Dr. Seuss steaks,” another one answered. Well, there’s another reason too, Fox said, bringing the conversation back to Read Across America. “We’re all saying today that reading is really important,” she said.
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Chancellor Fox and Audrey Geisel blow the candles on a Dr. Seuss birthday cake.
(Photo / Erik Jepsen, UCSD Guardian)
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Then she took turns reading “The Cat in the Hat” with UCSD senior Ivy Dulay, who acts as a student ambassador in the community and plans to become a teacher. Fox let children finish some of the book’s sentences. When several said they didn’t know what a “taking a bow” meant, she demonstrated.
She also talked to her young audience about college. “I’m like the principal of UCSD,” she explained. She then asked children whether they planned to go to college. Many raised their hand. Is college hard, a little boy asked. “You’ve got to work hard, but on the other hand, it’s fun to learn that way,” Fox answered. Think about what you want to be and study hard to be prepared, she advised students.
After the reading, the chancellor headed to Hawthorne Elementary’s kindergarten classrooms, where children had put on a Dr. Seuss birthday celebration. She huddled in a makeshift “Cat in the Hat” house and read Dr. Seuss’ “Hop on Pop” to five little girls. She gave everyone a hug at the end of the story. Then Hawthorne Principal Momiji Seligman gave Fox framed drawings of the “Cat in the Hat,” made and signed by students.
Children love listening to guest readers, said Yumiko Stevens, who teaches a combination class of kindergartners and first graders. It’s also good for them to hear about college, she added. “At school, they get the short-range perspective,” she said. “They need the long-range perspective, and learning that starts now.”
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