The same could be said for Sherman Central School on Park Street, which, like the boy in Dr. Suess’ And To Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street, had plenty of stories to tell on March 7 as the first Family Literacy Night took place. From 6 to 7:30 p.m., the school was a buzz of activities for children in grades pre-K – 4, all based on the works of Dr. Seuss.

‘It has a Dr. Seuss theme to coincide with Read Across America, which is also going on right now,’ said Principal Leslie Melquist. ‘There are various activities happening throughout the school. The whole evening is a Dr. Seuss Scavenger Hunt where families will have to visit the various locations to earn a free book at the end of the night.’

Melquist said the goal of the night was twofold. On one hand, all of the activities were designed to engage kids with reading. On the other hand, it was also designed to involve school families in learning and literacy.

“The purpose of the family literacy night is to not only promote literacy skills, but also foster a love for reading, while strengthening family involvement in the school,” Melquist said. “We hope to create a supportive environment where families can bond over learning and literacy…while having fun!”

Children match the upper-case letters “Dr. Suess style” in the Alphabet Maze game during the Family Literacy Night at Sherman Central School.

Melquist said the activities were spread throughout the elementary school and include Bingo for Books, “Hop on Pop” (Boggle, Hopscotch, Alphabet Maze), “Cat in the Hat” (STEM Activity), “Horton Hatches the Egg” (Another STEM Activity), “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish” (Reading Corner), “Thing 1, Thing 2” (Photo Booth Area) and “Fox in Socks” (Reader’s Theatre).

It wasn’t hard to see that the children were very engaged. In the gymnasium, youngsters played a variety of games. In ‘alphabet maze’ children matched upper case letters with those on the floor, and it wasn’t as easy as one might think. “There are fish on each card and if we have fish that are floating upside down, then the letter is in the wrong place,” said reading teacher Erika Stormer. “This is particularly important with letters like M and W.”

Children played hopscotch, as well, but had to say the words that were on each square, as they hopped. Each hopscotch game was set up for a particular grade level.

In Room 163, students could go fishing for “one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish,” curl up in the corner to read or have a snack while coloring a Dr. Seuss picture. ‘I think it has been fantastic,’ said Beth Armes, whose son was busy fishing. ‘He absolutely loves this and he loves books. We read every night together.’

First-grade teacher Kristen Goldberg said she was delighted with Family Literacy Night. ‘I can’t believe what a turnout we have. This is amazing,’ she said. ‘It’s been years since we did anything like this.’

Children try to snag “one fish, Two Fish, Red Fish and Blue Fish during the Family Literacy Night at Sherman Central School.

In Room 153, youngsters took part in a STEM activity, by seeing how many ‘cat hats’ (red plastic cups) they could stack in one minute. The record, so far, was nine hats stacked, each with a piece of cardboard between the hats. ‘It’s nice to mix STEM and Math with reading,’ said 7th grade English and Social Studies teacher Heather Croscut. ‘Ther are some kids who don’t like to read and by adding hands-on activities, you can push the reading, and they don’t even know it.’

As families entered, they were greeted with a gift bag and a welcome. Just beyond, children could stop and guess how many goldfish (crackers) were in a large jar. In the auditorium, students were invited to make hats or headbands and to have their picture taken in front of a Cat in the Hat photo booth area.

Additional activities included Sock Puppets and reading of the book Fox in Socks. In the cafeteria, children could play Bingo to win a book to take home. Also, in the library, children, taking their cue from the Dr. Seuss story, Horton Hatches the Egg, took part in a STEM activity to protect the egg from a book drop.

All of the opportunities provided to youngsters on Family Literacy Night were created by the faculty at Sherman Central School “A school committee consisting of teachers and administrators came up with this idea and created the events for the evening,” said Melquist. “This is a great start to engage families to get more involved in the school.”