Cat in the Hat comes back - to school

For a very long time,

both the old and the new

have been brilliantly bedazzled

by his bright ballyhoo.

From green eggs to Horton,

their interests he piqued

even as the great doctor

turned 100 this week.

The Cat in the Hat

and Thing 1 and Thing 2

knew they had mattering

matters to do.

So they stopped in each class

to fill a great need:

the need for all children

to write and to read.

In honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday on March 2, schools across the nation are celebrating Reading Month. Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, died in 1991. More than 200 million of his rhyming children's books have been sold worldwide.

Bordewich-Bray Elementary School is focusing on Reading: The Write Thing to Do, encouraging students to read and write.

"Do you want to meet my friends, Thing 1 and Thing 2?" the Cat in the Hat asked the students in their reading classes.

As the students responded with a resounding, "yes," the two Things shoved their way into the classroom, grabbing the students' belongings and wreaking havoc with classroom supplies.

"They're kind of naughty," explained the Cat in the Hat. "We better get out of here before they tear up the classroom."

Once the characters left, students got back to the business of reading.

"It was very surprising," said Cody Land, 10. "I've never seen people with funky hairdos running into the classroom and messing it up like that. It's very odd."

Odd though it may be, Gene Brown, who was recently named the school's classified employee of the year, said her portrayal Tuesday of the Cat in the Hat will strengthen the students' interest in reading.

"It plays to their imagination by bringing the books to life," she said. "We want them to know that reading is fun."

The students were each challenged to write an essay explaining why they liked Dr. Seuss. Thing 1, played by Principal Sue Keema, and Thing 2, portrayed by Vice Principal Pat Beckwith, handed out awards for the top essays as they visited each classroom.

Britney Tucker, 10, won first place in the fifth-grade competition.

"I wrote my essay about my favorite book by Dr. Seuss which is, 'Oh, the Places You'll Go,'" she said. "My favorite part of the book is when it says: 'And will you succeed? Yes, you will indeed - 98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed. Kid, you'll move mountains.'

"It shows encouragement and determination and faith."

n A copy of the winning essays will appear in Saturday's edition of the Nevada Appeal on the Whatever page.

Contact Teri Vance at tvance@nevadaappeal.com or at 881-1272.