.png)
One day the kids wore pajamas to school, on another they donned wacky attire while the final day called for silly hats to raise the craziness.
It was all part of a weeklong birthday celebration for Dr. Seuss as Arroyo Vista Elementary School, which annually takes part in Read Across America, an initiative on reading created by the National Education Association that began in 1997.
Annually, Read Across America Day is observed in the United States on the school day closest to March 2, the official birthday of Dr. Seuss.
However, at Arroyo Vista, the fun stretched over five days as students participated in a series of activities leading up to Friday when members of the community read Dr. Seuss and other children’s books, some childhood favorites.
Special guests, who spent time reading books in Arroyo Vista classrooms, included actor Sam Jaeger (“Parenthood, Law & Order”), “Charmed” producers Jessica O’Toole and Alison Simpson Smith, South Pasadena Mayor Pro Tem Robert Joe, South Pasadena Police Sgt. Tony Abdalla, Corp. Avick Manukian, South Pasadena Firefighers, Los Angeles Police Department officers, Occidental College Basketball Coach Brian Newhall, the Dinosaur Farm’s David Plenn, U.S. Army JAG Corp. Lt. Col. Edward Riffle, Rex McDaniel, host of The Otter Story Hour, which gathers at Griffins of Kinsdale, school librarians, principals, and supporting parents.
Kristin Wolven, creative director and founder of theater company Young Artists of Pasadena, read to the fifth graders, while local attorneys Karen Osborne, Jean-Claude Jones and Brian Mahler read to the 3rd and 4th graders.
Arroyo Vista Librarian Selena Baydaline read Dr. Seuss’s “Sneetches” with the school’s Ink Drinkers Club members performing on stage for this morning’s assembly.
A group photo, many wearing wacky hats, was taken in the courtyard.
“The participation was phenomenal, and each day participants were entered into a raffle to win gift cards generously donated by Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena and Arroyo Vista spirit wear from our PTA,” explained one of the organizers, Karen Kano.
