A verb can make a difference

(Photos courtesy of Linda Horky)

I spent my Wednesday morning reading to a second-grade class at Pearl Stephens Elementary School in Warner Robins.

It was part of the “Celebrity Read” for the Warner Robins chapter of the American Association of University Women (AAUW). This group has sponsored a “Reading is Fundamental” program in several elementary schools in Houston County. These “Celebrity Reads” are usually held twice a year, in the fall and spring.

Over the past few years, I have read to classes at several schools, including Lindsey, Parkwood, Westside, Sullivan, Pearl Stephens and Perry.

It started for me in 1998, when I became involved locally with the Rolling Readers program. Over the next eight years, I was a regular at least once a week in five different schools in Bibb County – Bruce, Lane, Tinsley, Sonny Carter and Morgan.

I’ve always found it very rewarding. You don’t reach ALL the kids, but if you can make a difference in the lives of some of them, it makes it all worthwhile.

On Wednesday at Pearl Stephens, I read them several poems from one of my favorites – Shel Silverstein. I read from “Where the Sidewalk Ends” and “A Light in the Attic.’’

They loved the “Recipe for a Hippopotamus Sandwich.’’ I have asked their teacher to get them to write their own recipes and send them to me.

See what reading can do? A noun. A verb. An adjective. They all can make a difference.