St. Joseph students tout reading on T-shirts

Private school devotes entire week to activities

First grader Liam Smith gets into the spirit of reading during an assembly celebrating books at St. Joseph School. Traditional uniforms took a back seat to book-themed shirts or shirts with words.

The students of St. Joseph School in Sylvania celebrated the annual Right-To-Read Week by creating shirts that showed off their favorite books.

On Thursday, students of the school's east and west campus got a break from their traditional uniform.

Emma Payne, 5, wore a shirt her mother made that portrayed characters from One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish. The author, Dr. Seuss, is the kindergartner’s favorite author.

“I like the cover because it has my favorite color,” Emma said, pointing to the green fish.

PHOTO GALLERY: St. Joseph's students celebrate Right-To-Read week

Mary Ann Wisniewski, the school librarian, chose a children’s book by Denise Brennan-Nelson, Buzzy the Bumblebee, as the theme story for the week-long celebration of books. The week started Feb. 23 at Barnes and Noble and ended on Friday with Hat Day.

In the book, Buzzy learns to believe in himself after discovering that aeronautically, bumblebees should not be able to fly, and that empowering message was underscored throughout the week.

One of the highlights of the week was having the author, who is from Howell, Mich., visit the school.

“Meeting a real author was exciting for everyone,” Mrs. Wisniewski said.

Ms. Brennan-Nelson read the book to the children and spoke with them about the book's message.

Other events included a book swap and celebrity read day.