School Superintendent Rodolfich and Staff Read to 59 Classes in Marathon Effort

Teaching children to read is one of the most important steps in the life-long project of learning. Getting them started early is critical, many educators believe. Among those who created reading material that draws children into the learning process was the beloved Dr. Seuss.

As a way to mark Dr. Seuss' birthday on March 2, Lake Wales Charter Schools Superintendent Dr. Wayne Rodolfich, accompanied by Bilingual Specialist Dr. Julio Acevedo and PD Coordinator Stacie Padgett, visited every kindergarten, first & second-grade class in all four local LWCS elementary schools to read the Dr. Seuss book, "Green Eggs and Ham", in both Spanish and English.

Dr. Acevedo, dressed as Sam I Am, read the book in Spanish, and Dr. Rodolfich, dressed as the Cat in the Hat, read the book in English.

There were about 59 classes for a total of 1,100 students. The 22 reading sessions lasted from 8:00 a.m. until 12:30 p.m., non-stop. Each classroom teacher also received a set of 20 Dr. Seuss books for their classroom libraries

Rodolfich, an award-winning school administrator, was selected a year ago this week to lead the seven-school district, which include Hillcrest, Janie Howard Wilson, Polk Avenue, and Dale Fair Babson Park Elementary schools, Bok Academy North and South, both middle schools, and Lake Wales High School. He began his leadership role last summer, emphasizing the importance of reading with a program he calls "read 20," encouraging every student to read 20 minutes daily beyondof their class work, promoted by the hashtag #READ20.

"The students were outstanding, and they could all tell you they are supposed to read for an additional 20 minutes every day," said Acevedo.

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