Union campaign inspires wee readers
NYSUT President Dick Iannuzzi reads to students at the New York Public Library at an event sponsored by the UFT. That's UFT Vice President Michelle Bodden, also the author of children's books, in white blazer at the back.
Below: NYSUT Vice President Robin Rapaport reads to fourth-graders in Susan Lamora's class at Elsmere Elementary in Bethlehem, Albany County.
Dr. Seuss looked down from rhyming heaven on March 2, his 100th birthday, and was pleased by the warm scenes of educators reading to eager children.
It was Read Across America Day, a national event spearheaded by the National Education Association. NYSUT locals — both big and small, both squat and tall, they inspire their students, they inspire them all — organized events to make reading fun.
The Buffalo Teachers Federation, for one, had volunteers going to city hospitals bearing small bags that contained a book, coffee mug, pen and a Read Across America brochure. "It's a basic life skill that can also transport a child to many different places," said BTF President Phil Rumore.