Published 12:00 am Thursday, March 10, 2011

Elizabeth Duncan Koontz Elementary School celebrated Dr. Seuss’ 107th birthday on Friday by participating in Read Across America, a national celebration in recognition of Dr. Seuss and reading.
Faculty and students dressed as their favorite book characters and donated money to Relay for Life as part of the celebration.
The school held a Read-a-Thon throughout the day to determine how many pages each class could read.
The Student Government Association also held a book swap for students who wanted to trade books they have read with their classmates.
Prizes were awarded to students and staff with the best costumes. Classes and individual students were also recognized for having read the most pages.
The student body read a total of 50,650 pages which translates to roughly 1,625 picture books.
According to the National Education Association, motivating children to read is an important factor in student achievement and creating lifelong successful readers. Research has shown that children who are motivated and spend more time reading do better in school.