The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Seuss-athon literacy event returns to campus
Lake Erie College will be holding what is fast becoming an annual tradition for the campus, on March 28.
Lake Erie College in Painesville will be holding what is fast becoming an annual tradition for the campus, the Seuss-athon, on March 28.
Hosted by the campus’s School of Education, the event celebrating children’s author Dr. Seuss is designed to champion youth literacy and encourage active reading habits.
The event had a former life over a decade ago run by the CARES Coalition until the agency disbanded. It was not until 2019 that the event saw new life under LEC’s guidance.
“We want our students, who are going to be teachers, to be able to know how to reach out to the community effectively and to create a stronger relationship between the college and the local community so kids feel welcome to the campus,” said Dean of the School of Education Katharine Delavan during the 2019 relaunch.
Borrowing from a Seuss title, this year’s theme is “The Places You’ll Go.” To capitalize on the wordplay visitors will travel across the campus in order to visit all of the event’s attractions.
These destinations include a book fair within the Garfield Center, story stations in the James Lincoln Library and returning professional storyteller Robin Echols Cooper will regale youth with stories in the Morley Music Building.
Dean of the School of Natural Sciences and
Mathematics Jonathan Tedesco will also get in on the fun. Tedesco will be running a slime and Oobleck creation station which will have children creating take home science experiments.
The book fair, coordinated by the School of Education, will see its proceeds benefit the Salvation Army for the organization’s Back to School Bash.
Storyteller Robin Echols Cooper has become a familiar face at Lake Erie College. Not only is this her second year participating in the Seuss-athon, she also features in the college’s recurring Storytelling Harvest.
Cooper is part of the Women in History Ohio and has affiliations with the National Association of Black Storytellers, the Cleveland Association of Black Storytellers, and the Western Reserve Association for the Preservation and Perpetuation of Storytelling.