December 2003
Contact: Holly Brooker
(845) 255-1450 xt.1301

It was an exciting day for Ulster BOCES Special Education students at Lenape and Highland Elementary Schools as they joined schools across the country in celebrating National Young Readers Day on November 12. Local “celebrities” were invited into the classrooms to read their favorite children’s books to the students and explain the importance of reading in their daily lives.

“I write and read, write and read some more, and around and around it goes,” said Brian Jones, news director at MIX-97, as he talked to students about how he loves reading and “reads all the time at the radio station.” Jones read a Dr. Seuss classic, Thidwick, the Big-Hearted Moose, to students in Ruth Backenroth’s class at Lenape Elementary School.

Kenneth Hyatt, a retired educator and current Ulster BOCES board member, made a special connection with wheelchair-bound students, since he, too, is in a wheelchair. After reading to the students, Hyatt explained how he uses specially designed hand controls to drive his car. Later, Hyatt demonstrated how he gets in and out of his vehicle and stores his wheelchair in a special “black box” on top of his car.

Don Mercurio, an engineer from the New York State Department of Transportation, not only read to the students, but he also brought highway diagrams for them to examine. One student thoroughly inspected – and tried on – Mercurio’s helmet while he explained how important it was for safety. “It protects my head from falling objects, from the sun, and the bright orange reflectors make it easier for motorists to see me,” Mercuio said.

Other area “celebrities” invited to read to the children were Rosendale Town Supervisor Phil Terpening; Barry Samuels, owner of the Golden Notebook bookstore in Woodstock; Marlene Anderson-Butler, director of Ulster BOCES Special and Alternative Education; Anne Kelly, supervisor of Ulster BOCES Special Education at Tillson and Rondout Valley; Esopus Town Supervisor Ray Rice; Mary Luzzi, principal at Lenape Elementary School; and Garret Church, a former SUNY New Paltz Education professor. Ulster BOCES District Superintendent and Chief Executive Officer Martin Ruglis and Ulster BOCES Deputy Superintendent Dr. Anthony J. Amodeo also read to students.

National Young Readers Day and the BOOK IT!® National Reading Incentive Program were created in 1989 by Pizza Hut to help children develop a lifelong love of reading. The program motivates children in grades K-6 to read by rewarding them for their reading accomplishments. For more information about the BOOK IT!® National Reading Incentive Program visit www.bookitprogram.com.