Swanson teams up with Blue Star Families to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday

PALMER — Theodor Seuss Geisel may not be a familiar name to many. But by his pen name the author is world-renowned. To celebrate what would have been his 113th birthday March 2, classrooms at Palmer’s Swanson Elementary teamed up with Blue Star Families and passed out Dr. Seuss books to Mary Schaff’s first grade and Aaron Schaff’s kindergarten class, enjoyed a Seuss classic, and of course, had a birthday party.

Blue Star Families is a nonprofit, nationwide organization created to strengthen and connect military families. With Mat-Su’s proximity to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER) , there are a large number of military families in the area. Erica Glass, a Swanson parent volunteer, is the JBER chapter director. Her quick response to a Blue Star offer landed Mary and Aaron Schaff’s classes one of 11 sponsored “Read Across America” Dr. Seuss birthday parties nationwide.

“One of our programs, ‘Books on Bases’, was made to help military kids enhance their literary skills and create a love for reading to help through the stresses of military life — moving every few years, deployed parents, etc,” Glass said. “The Read Across America (Dr Seuss) event falls under our Books on Bases program.”

“We had the only party in the state,” said Mary Schaff.

After another volunteer, Enola Schaff, took time to read “One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish” to an attentive group of 50-plus youngsters, teachers and volunteers passed out “goodie bags” to each child. In addition to the selected read, the bags contained activity sheets, and literacy and positive reinforcement tips for parents.

Then the party began complete with juice, fish-shaped crackers, and “Cat In the Hat” snacks of bananas and strawberries. Students also sang Happy Birthday in honor of the author. Some of the students even dressed the part of their favorite Dr. Seuss character.

Mary Schaff said the Dr. Seuss event marks the second for Swanson. Last Christmas, the program teamed up with Santa Claus to deliver Christmas books to first graders.

“Every year the NEA (National Education Association) comes out with a different book,” Mary Schaff stated. “This ties into National Reading Month.”

Schaff said each participating student received a certificate of appreciation.

Contact reporter Chris Ford at 352-2270 or chris.ford@frontiersman.com