You’re never too old, too wacky, too wild,
 To pick up a book and read with a child.
 You’re never too busy, too cool, or too hot,
 To pick up a book and share what you’ve got.

As part of an on-going focus on Literacy through the Arts, Mississippi Alliance for Arts Education members and friends visited school classrooms and child care centers to read and share arts experiences with students. This year’s Read Across America focus book was The Lorax by Dr. Suess. Through the good work of many volunteers, thousands of students across Mississippi heard this inspirational story.

MAAE believes that motivating children to read is an important factor in student achievement and creating successful lifelong readers. Research indicates that children who are motivated and spend more time reading and being read to do better in school. And when arts are used to help children process their reading, the results are deeper understanding and appreciation of what they have read.

Photos on this page were submitted by Sue Mason, a member/volunteer of Friends of the Libraries of Stone County; MAAE President, Mark Brown; MAAE Past President, Marlynn Martin.

Participants/Volunteers

• MAAE Members, Board members, Executive Committee Members and Staff

• Stone County Friends of the Library (25 volunteers; 800-900 students served)

• Mississippi State University

• Jackson State University (25 university students)

• Jones County Junior College

• Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College

• Mississippi Humanities Council, Family Reading Bonds Program

• Laurel/Jones County Library

• Greenville Arts Council

• Oak Park Elementary School, Laurel

• Perkinston Elementary School

• Stone County Elementary School, Wiggins

• Casey Elementary School, Jackson

• Canton School of Arts And Sciences

• Jackson Public Schools and two private schools

• Ellisville Elementary School

• Oakland Heights Elementary School, Laurel

• Power APAC Elementary, Jackson (25 teachers; 100 students)

In the final numbers for Mississippi, readers from Amory, Ashland, Blue Mountain, Brookhaven, Flora, Hattiesburg, Hernando, Jackson, Laurel, Ellisville, Little Rock, Madison, McComb, Mendenhall, Olive Branch, Oxford, Pascagoula, Pass Christian, Perkinston, Quitman, Raymond, Richland, Southaven, Summit and Waynesboro were included.

The National Education Association (NEA) sponsors Read Across America Day, an annual reading motivation and awareness program that calls for every child in every community to celebrate reading on March 2, the birthday of beloved children's author Dr. Seuss. Approximately 3,854 individuals from every state read and conducted activities with students.

MAAE Executive Director, Dr. Penny Wallin commented, “It gives you a neat feeling knowing that while we are reading to children in Mississippi that simultaneously Zach Efron and Danny DeVito were reading to children in New York.”