Reps. MacLachlan & Carney Read to School Children

State Representatives Jesse MacLachlan (R-35) & Devin Carney (R-23) paid a visit to Daisy Ingraham School in Westbrook to participate in Read Across America Day on Friday, March 6th.

In honor of Dr. Seuss’ birthday, Reps. MacLachlan and Carney joined in the nationwide celebration by reading classic children’s stories to several classes of elementary school students.

Rep. MacLachlan read the Dr. Seuss favorite “Green Eggs and Ham” and Rep. Carney read “The Lorax” and  “The Cat in the Hat.” Before their visit concluded, they had an interactive discussion with the children about state government and their role as State Representatives.

“It was a pleasure to spend time reading to our school children,” Rep. MacLachlan said. “Studies show that student achievement is directly correlated to reading; events like these which promote learning will ensure that this essential skill is fully developed in our children.”

“I’d like to thank the teachers and administrators in our local public schools for doing a remarkable job at motivating our children to read. I was very impressed at how attentive the students were and how excited they were to celebrate a day of reading and learning,” Rep. Carney said.

“We were very honored to welcome Representatives MacLachlan and Carney as guest readers for Read Across America Day at Daisy Ingraham School,” said Ruth W. Rose, Principal.  “Both men interacted so nicely with our students and their very presence confirmed the importance of reading to our children.  In particular, our fourth-graders were very interested to hear about a current bill that our representatives are working on regarding reducing the amount of sugar in school lunches.  Our third-graders also made a nice connection and are looking forward to visiting our representatives at an upcoming field trip to the State Capitol.  All around, it was a great experience for all.”

“Representatives MacLachlan and Carney were such a welcome addition to the Read Across America Day at Daisy Ingraham Elementary.  Of course, neither representative is a stranger to our schools and we are fortunate to have them take an interest in our activities, events and informational forums as they so often do.  Both representatives have made themselves available on a regular basis to talk about educational perspectives with me as well as other school staff and it was wonderful to see them take time away from their schedules to simply share a love of reading with our youngest students,” said Patricia A. Ciccone, Superintendent.

Launched by the National Education Association in 1998, Read Across America Day involves more than 3.2 million teachers, librarians, athletes, celebrities, politicians, business professionals and everyday people reading to an estimated 45 million children in 2015.

For more information about this great event please visit www.nea.org/readacross