Students encouraged to keep reading fervor

LYNN – Ask former teacher Rachel Della Croce who her favorite author is and she will say, hands down, Dr. Seuss.”And not just because it’s his birthday,” she added. “He has books for literally every age group.”The former Ford School teacher stopped by her old stomping grounds Friday to help students, teachers, staffers and two dozen volunteers celebrate a day of reading and Dr. Seuss’ birthday.A path of tiny, paper, red-and-white striped “Cat in the Hat” hats marked the way for volunteers like Rep. Robert Fennell, district fire chiefs Stephen Archer and Jack Barry, Fire Lt. Edward Whittier, Police Officer Jennifer Cash, school committee members Donna Coppola, Charlie Gallo and Rick Starbard, along with North Shore Navigators General Manager William Terlecky and Jay Holland from the Red Sox, and a dozen community members to find their way to the library. There, Della Croce, who is now an adjunct professor and MTEL (Massachusetts Tests for Education Licensure) coordinator at Salem State University, talked about the importance of reading to children.Children who are read to and who see that their parents or adults love to read are more apt to read for pleasure, and people who read for pleasure tend to be more successful and do better on standardized tests, Della Croce said.”By middle school, reading, especially for boys, begins to drop off,” she said.But it doesn’t have to.The mother of 11-year-old twin boys, Della Croce said the biggest punishment she can drop on her kids is to tell them “no reading tonight.” Despite the fact her sons are reading what she called high-level chapter books, they still like to curl up with her and a good picture book.The biggest mistake parents can make is to stop reading to their children once the kids are reading on their own, she said.”They still want to sit next to you and have you read to them,” she said. “I promise you they do ? I’ve read to my kids since the day they were born and they love to read.”Archer armed himself with two history books – one on Orville and Wilbur Wright and another on Paul Revere – while Starbard picked up “Library Mouse: A Museum Adventure,” before heading into the classroom.Gallo often says that reading to students is one of the best aspects of being a school committee member. He said Friday that picking a book to read to fourth-graders wasn’t that hard.”Being the shortest elected official in the city, I chose ?Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon,’ he said, smiling. “And we talked a little after about the lessons learned like don’t judge.”Coppola generally packs Dr. Seuss to read but said she changed things up this time with Charles Schultz’s Peanuts and a story about Linus and his blanket.Armed with a large stuffed Snoopy, she said, “We all know how important it is to cuddle up under a good blanket when we read.”Ford School Principal Claire Crane said the real point of the event is to show students how much the community supports them and the idea of reading. To further that notion, Library Media Specialist Anamarie Donnelly said every student in the school, all 550 of them, would receive a book, a bookmark and a book bag to mark the event. The gift bags were paid for through a grant and proceeds from the Scholastic Book Fair, Donnelly said.Della Croce said parents need to do all they can to encourage their children to get lost in a book.”There are textbooks and all kinds of things we have to read,” she said. “But every kid should have a book in their desk that they like to read and what you can do is to encourage children to have a love of reading just for pleasure.”