Sheryl and Dr. Seuss

Dr. Seuss was not a doctor. He dropped out of Oxford before he earned his advanced degree in literature. But the legendary children's author has probably been responsible for more American children learning to read than any other educator in history. His idiosyncratic rhymes and fantastical characters have enthralled beginning readers (and the rest of us) since he published his first book in 1937.

But the good Doctor's simple rhymes, baroque illustrations, and absurdist plots masked a distinct political sensibility, one characterized by a luminous devotion to the fundamental principles of democracy and a fierce commitment to social justice.

As a Kindergarten teacher, Lake Tahoe School's Sheryl Watson knows Dr. Seuss's books intimately. She uses them not only to teach reading to her five-year-olds but also to aid them in learning how to advocate for themselves and how to thrive in an interdependent world. And while Sheryl cannot take responsibility for teaching as many students to read as has Dr. Seuss, she is a local legend in her own right.

There are many reasons why Sheryl is a local legend: first and foremost are her years of outstanding service to a generation of Incline students and families; but there is also her commitment to literacy training and to mentoring her colleagues in specific curricula and strategies; the gleaming, cherry-red BMW she drives; her serene self-possession when surrounded by the frenetic chaos of five-year olds; and then there's the fact that she cooks up pounds and pounds of home-made chocolate and is generous in sharing it with colleagues, connoisseurs, and addicts alike.

And there is yet one more reason why Sheryl is beloved: her commitment to the Incline Village community. For the past eight years, one of Sheryl's community service projects has been to honor Dr. Seuss's birthday (he would have been 103 this year) with a celebration of literacy.

Here's how it works: with the help of her students and fellow teachers, Sheryl raises a whole bunch of money (her latest fund-raiser is selling the red and white hats made famous by a certain Dr. Seuss cat); she then treks down to the Scholastic book warehouse in Sacramento, where they know her and give her a good deal; she buys hundreds of books for students of all ages and brings them back to Incline; finally, she throws a big party at the school and invites hundreds of community children to come and celebrate the joy and the power of reading.

And hundreds of children come. They are Sheryl's students, and the sisters and brothers of her students, as well as the cousins the nieces and the nephews, not to mention their parents and their aunts and uncles and grandparents. It's a party, a literacy party.

At the end of the party, after students have listened to Dr. Seuss stories read by "celebrity readers," Sheryl sends every one of those students home with a free book, a book that they choose from the hundreds of books Sheryl has purchased. Last year Sheryl gave away over 850 books to our Incline community of children.

This year, Lake Tahoe School was honored to host Sheryl's celebration of Dr. Seuss's birthday. In addition to our own community, we invited students and families from the Incline Village K-2 public school.

And we had a party, a literacy party that celebrated not only the joy of reading but also the power of reading, for, as both Dr. Seuss and Sheryl know, reading is the key that opens the door for children to go places that only they can imagine. As Dr. Seuss himself says,

The more that you read,
the more things you will know.
The more that you learn,
the more places you'll go.
--I Can Read with My Eyes Shut!

--Steve McKibben
4/4/07