IN THE CLASSROOM -- Reading: a guaranteed home run

Luladey B. Tadesse

Pro baseball player Jeff Davanon spent a recent morning in front of 110

cross-legged second-graders at Mariners Elementary School in Newport

Beach.

The Anaheim Angels outfielder captured their attention. But Davanon

didn’t grab the students’ imagination by just talking about his career.

He read them a book.

Davanon is a celebrity reader for the Mariners Elementary School

Foundation, a group of parents, teachers and community members committed

to improving the school’s quality of education.

The foundation’s program was initiated by Susan Friend, a school parent,

who modeled it after “Celebrity Read” in Santa Clarita.

Friend’s goal is to spark the youngsters’ interest in reading as early as

possible -- to show them reading is important.

“What we have done is send invitations to Southland officials to read

their favorite books,” Friend said.

Her guests have included former Newport Beach Mayor Dennis O’Neil, Costa

Mesa Police Chief Dave Snowden, Newport-Mesa Unified School District

Supt. Robert Barbot and actress Jodie Sweetin from the television show

“Full House.”

“They are of a good age,” Ensign’s Principal Mary Ann Ehret said of the

second-grade students. “They are learning to be independent readers. They

understand enough about the idea of celebrity.”

And it seems to have worked.

“It’s pretty cool,” Juliet Deem, 8, said. “It makes you feel like I read

more often than I already do.”

“It makes me happy to read because you sort of want to be like him

because he plays baseball a lot and he reads a lot of books,” added

Hannah MacLeod, 7.

Last week, Davanon read o7 “f7 Frank and Ernest Play Ball” by Alexandra

Day for the young listeners. And -- apart from one boy nudging his friend

to secretly show him that his tooth fell out -- Davanon’s reading was

uninterrupted.

This is the ballplayer’s second reading this month. He visited Los

Alamitos Elementary school two weeks ago.

“One of my biggest mistakes when I was growing up was not reading

enough,” Davanon said. He doesn’t want other children to repeat his

mistake.

Besides, he said, he enjoys hanging out with little ones: “I love

elementary school kids. They are really special. I like being around

them.”

PH

FO

FYI

* Who: Second-graders at Mariners Elementary School in Newport Beach and

Anaheim Angels outfielder Jeff Davanon

* What: “Celebrity Read”

* Why: A program to encourage elementary students to enjoy reading