Hats off to Dr. Seuss ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ skit encourages Trinity students to read
First-grader Hayden Shrader, 7, works up enough courage to try the green eggs while classmate Riley Smith, 7, goes for the ham following a “Green Eggs and Ham” skit at Trinity North Elementary School earlier this week.
Parent volunteer Denise Cox holds her nose as she prepares to take a bite of green eggs during a “Green Eggs and Ham” skit at Trinity North Elementary School to celebrate “Read Across America” week.
Parent volunteer Bethany Bowman, portraying Sam I Am, smiles after Denise Cox, playing the protagonist from “Green Eggs and Ham,” admits she likes green eggs at the end of their “Green Eggs and Ham” skit at Trinity North Elementary School.
Alexia Stewart, 7, a first-grader at Trinity North Elementary School, bypasses green eggs in favor of the ham after a “Green Eggs and Ham” skit to celebrate “Read Across America” week.
Green eggs weren’t exactly a fan favorite among the youngest students entering the cafeteria at Trinity North Elementary School earlier this week.
But by the time Bethany Brown and Denise Cox had completed their skit during the school’s 14th annual “Read Across America” celebration, a few students mustered enough courage to try the Shamrock-green eggs.
Brown and Cox are parent volunteers at Trinity North, where, on Wednesday, they performed a “Green Eggs and Ham” skit as a tribute to Dr. Seuss and to encourage the youngsters to read.
“I’ve been a guest reader in the classroom. They like it when we’re here,” Bowman said. “It’s real exciting for them.”
Bowman has two daughters in the district, Emma, who is a sixth-grader, and Ava, who is a fourth-grader, and she encourages both of her daughters to read. Mom and her daughters even have T-shirts depicting Thing 1 and Thing 2 characters from “The Cat in the Hat” book, with Mom adding a Thing 3 to the mix.
“I incorporate reading with Lent,” said Bowman, who portrayed Sam I Am in the skit.
Cox played the protagonist, who was quite defiant in her dislike for green eggs – until she took one small bite, convincing the kids green eggs aren’t that bad. Cox also has two children in the Trinity Area School District: Becca, a sixth-grader, and Nathan, a fourth-grader.
“We both volunteer a lot,” Bowman said. “The kids like it when we’re here.”
Linda Oros, who is the kindergarten and first-grade reading teacher, organizes “Read Across America” events at the school, and each year it keeps growing, she said.
Activities kicked off Monday with a “Splat the Staff” Challenge. Students were asked to read books – and lots of them. The goal this year is for Trinity North students to read 7,800 books. Last year’s goal was 7,700, and they far surpassed that by reading 8,140 books.
Students who read books will be rewarded with tickets, which will placed in a drawing for a chance to splat teachers with eggs on May 15. Some of the eggs will be cooked; others will be raw. Students who read enough books to earn 10 tickets also will receive free admission to the Wild Things game May 19 at Consol Energy Park.
Guest readers also entertained the students throughout the week, including John and Dorothy Tecklenburg, Ronald McDonald, members of the Wheeling Nailers and Pittsburgh Riverhounds and South Strabane firefighter Christopher Barton.
Bowman said she enjoys listening to guest readers just as much as the children, and she has to smile when all the kids raise their hands in response to that reader’s question, “Who wants to be …?” If the reader is a police officer, they all want to be police officers, she said. If the reader is a professional soccer player, they all want to be soccer players.
“They get a kick out of it,” Bowman said.