Lending a reading voice to the future

I am finding that as mayor, there are certain “perks” that go along

with this position. There is one very special situation that recently

occurred that I would like to share with you.

I and a number of other individuals were invited to speak at the

Newport Coast Elementary School in support of Read Across America.

Read Across America is a program sponsored by the National Education

Assn. and was calling for every child to be reading in the company of

a caring adult on March 3. This is an event that is held annually

nationwide to celebrate the birthday, as well as the legacy, of

children’s author Dr. Seuss, or Theodore Geisel.

The school’s principal and librarian asked if I would be willing

to participate and read for about 25 or 30 minutes to the fifth-grade

class. I had never been involved in a program like this in the past,

and not only did I acknowledge that I would be very happy to

participate, quite frankly, I was very excited to be involved. So, I

showed up at Newport Coast Elementary School with book in hand and

raring to go.

I arrived a bit early, and found that the “reader” before me was

my old buddy Capt. Tim Newman of the Newport Beach Police Department.

Tim did a great job with the kids and they clearly enjoyed having

Tim, who was in full uniform, read to them. This is just another

example of the fantastic outreach our Police Department accomplishes

with the community, especially with children.

It was now my time to be on stage, so to speak, and there I am,

sitting on a built-in bench in the school library with all these kids

sitting on the floor just waiting to hear the mayor read, and by all

means, these fifth-graders know what a mayor is, (some of them

thought the mayor is the president of a city).

The book I chose, being the hard-line animal lover that I am, was

the “Market Square Dog” by James Harriot. It is a simple children’s

story about a stray dog that begged in the Marketplace in merry Old

England and ultimately wound up, of course, with a loving family with

two children. The fifth-graders listened intently as I read how the

dog was begging every day from the street vendors, then disappeared

for a while, then became badly injured, then of course was healed and

everybody lived happily every after. The book really was fun.

After I was finished reading, the kids had many questions. Some

wanted to know if I had any dogs myself, did I like being mayor, and

one young lady asked me “would you like to run for higher office”

(keep in mind these are fifth-graders), to which I responded “no, but

thank you for offering.”

In reading to the kids and answering their questions, and then

watching them having the wonderful time that they were having, the

realization truly hit me that these kids truly are our future.

Whether they stay in Newport Beach or move, they are the future of

this country.

As such, it is so important that these kids are exposed to not

just elected officials, but other people in the community who truly

make a difference and that is what Read Across America was all about.

Every contact these children encounter with adults will clearly have

a lasting impact on their lives, and although they might not remember

each of us specifically as times goes on, they will remember what is

a positive experience and what is not, and I firmly believe that

programs such as these will only benefit all of us as we continue to

grow older, and these kids move forward to become our future leaders.

What was also heartening to see was the number of parents (mostly

moms) who come to school and work with the teachers. Also, by

arriving early, I had an opportunity to step into a first-grade class

and speak with the teacher, Susan Stokes, who immediately grabbed

ahold of me, put me in her rocking chair and had the kids gather

around to just talk. These kids were fantastic and, like in all the

other classes, there were mom helpers.

I made it very clear to the good folks at Newport Coast Elementary

School that if they would like me to come back, all they need to do

is ask. Considering some of the adversity that I have to work through

day to day, I think we all need a shot of “from the mouths of babes”

once in a while.

* STEVE BROMBERG is the mayor of Newport Beach.