Kiwanis Club of St. Augustine members Joan Whitson, Kerriane Constant and Clay Nettles (as the Cat in Hat), enjoy reading the Dr. Seuss book “10 Apples on Top” to the Head Start children at Crook Shank Elementary school in St. Augustine, March 6, 2012.
The Cat in the Hat visits local Pre-school children
The Cat in the Hat, along with volunteers from the Early Learning Coalition of Putnam and St. Johns County and the St. Augustine Kiwanis Club, made special visits to child care centers in honor of Dr. Seuss’ birthday.
In honor of Dr. Seuss birthday on March 2nd and in participation with Read Across America, the Early Learning Coalition held a drawing for all of the child care centers they work with in Putnam and St. Johns county to receive a special Dr. Seuss themed program at their center.
Four centers were the lucky winners: Cathedral Parish Pre-school and Treasure Harbor Pre-school in St. Augustine, Polka Dot Learning Center in Palatka and Stay N Play Child Care in San Mateo.
Along with these four programs, the ELC joined with the Kiwanis Club of St. Augustine to put on the same program for the Head Start classes at Crook Shank Elementary school in St. Augustine. Each program included a visit and story time with the Cat in the Hat; along with numerous other activities all centering around a different Dr. Seuss book. Thanks to a generous donation from the St. Augustine Kiwanis club and ELC, each child received a free Dr. Seuss book.
“Exposing children to books and getting books into the hands of as many children as we can, is one of our greatest missions at the Early Learning Coalition,” says Joan Whitson, Early Literacy Coordinator for Early Learning Coalition of Putnam and St. Johns Counties and organizer of these outreach programs.
To quote Dr. Seuss himself, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn the more places you’ll go.”
For more information about early literacy programs, please contact Joan Whitson at [email protected] or 904-819-3544.
# # #
Contact: Joan Whitson, Early Literacy Coordinator, [email protected], 904-819-3544