Over the last few weeks, I have once again had the pleasure to read to the children across our district in honor of Read Across America. With multiple visits to schools in our area, it was great to spend some time with these amazing children who were all so engaged. I told them that this was the favorite part of my job being their state representative, and if you can read, you can do anything!

Voluntown Elementary School- March 3rd

On March 3rd, I had a great morning reading to the K-Second graders at Voluntown Elementary School. The book was What Pet Should I Get? by Dr. Suess. I got all sorts of recommendations from pit bulls to pugs, kittens, cats, birds, a pig and even a monkey! The kids and I both agreed that even though some of us are cat people and others are dog people and we may disagree on certain things, we can still all be friends. I want to thank them all for their warm welcome!

Juliet Long Elementary School in Gales Ferry- March 3rd

From Voluntown, I had the pleasure of reading Miss Nelson is Missing! in front of Miss Tedder’s fifth grade class at the Juliet Long Elementary School in Gales Ferry. The kids asked some amazing questions about my job as a legislator, the three levels of government, the law of supply and demand, and expressing their support for a four day a week class schedule.

I was really impressed by the bandwidth of questions for fifth graders. Special acknowledgement to library media specialist, Amy Armstrong, for helping to organize and facilitate the discussion. Thank you again for the invite, and I look forward to doing this again soon.

Veterans Memorial School in Preston- March 5th

On March 5th, it was a “Green Eggs and Ham,” morning at the Veterans Memorial School in Preston. I enjoyed reading to the second and fourth grade classes. We had a great conversation on how to make the world a better place.

The kids want to see an end to homelessness and people being kind to one another. Special thank you to Mrs. Elecker’s class for the very kind hand-crafted bookmark! It was very kind of you all!

Griswold Elementary School- March 14th

On Friday, March 14th, I wrapped up another fantastic year of Reads Across America with my final 2025 read at Griswold Elementary School. I very much enjoyed reading “We Don’t Lose Our Class Goldfish,” to Mrs. Gauthier’s and Mrs. Desjardins’ first & second grade classes. I was asked if I was everything from the president to Santa Claus and many things in between. We had a blast and I very much look forward to doing it again next year!

I learn so much from visiting these students and I appreciate their engagement and excitement. This truly is a wonderful experience that I am so fortunate to have as your state representative.