Kids take meaning from reading
Costa Mesa Police Officer Jess Gilman walked confidently down the school hallway with a red-and-white-striped hat on his head, and a book and Cat in the Hat doll in his hands.
Tall and authoritative in his navy uniform, he took a seat on a plastic bench for two with a commanding view of his audience seated on the grass. He then opened “The Sneetches” by Dr. Seuss.
“The Cat In the Hat is here to help me read the book in case there are any hard words,” Gilman told the class of second-graders wearing pajamas and matching red-and-white-striped paper hats.
Rea Elementary School celebrated the last day of Read Across America week and Dr. Seuss’ birthday with special guests reading his books, said Principal Anna Corral.
Throughout the week, the Costa Mesa campus also partook in a door-decorating contest and a bookmark-making project. As a prize, a few classes even got to try green eggs and ham, she said.
Gilman was the speaker of honor — the grand prize, actually — for winning the most spirit points over the week. The winning class also got to ask Gilman questions like: “How does Dr. Seuss know all the rhyming words?” and “Are you really a police?”
Christian Gutierrez said Gilman’s reading was good — he read the hard words well. Dressed in matching two-piece sports pajamas, the 7-year-old said his favorite part of the books was the words.
“Because they rhyme,” he said.
Over in Katie Holt’s first-grade class, UC Irvine intern Layla Gonzalez read “I Can Read with My Eyes Shut!” to the smiling, pajama-clad students.
Tony Ramirez, 6, said he felt just like the Cat in the Hat — his favorite character — with his handmade hat on. “The Cat in the Hat” is his favorite book, but Tony is a fan of them all.
“I like all of them because I know how to read Dr. Seuss books,” he said. “I want to read them every day.”
Twitter: @britneyjbarnes