Stratton fourth grade students enjoy their lunch period with the Cat and the Hat. They are (left to right) Lachlan Clark, Brandon Smith, Connor Dolan, Reed Stevens, “Dr. Seuss,” Summer Chamberlin, Jocelyn Whiting, Zoe Bendy, Emma Berube and Sydney Royce. (Photo courtesy of Stratton Elementary School) STRATTON -– On March 2 the entire student body had an exciting day at Stratton Elementary School.

The staff as well as the students celebrated what would have been Dr. Suess’s 104th birthday. Dr. Suess was born on March 2, 1904 in Springfield, Mass. and died in 1991 at the age of 87.

Theodor Seuss Geisel was a Dartmouth graduate in 1925 and went off to pursue a doctorate in philosophy at Lincoln College Oxford, but did not earn his degree. At Oxford he met his future wife, Helen Palmer, and married her in 1927.

National Read Across America Day was formed in 1997 on the day that Dr. Suess was born to recognize and promote lifelong reading. The intent is to celebrate reading across the nation at all levels.

“Motivating children to read is an important factor in student achievement and creating lifelong successful readers,” the organization states. “Research has shown that children who are motivated and spend more time reading do better in school.”

The school day started with kindergarten through fourth grade students who stopped on their way to the library to enjoy some green eggs and ham served by Stratton principal Lorrie Arruda.

At the library, the children enjoyed their snack and their special guest reader, Carrabassett Valley Academy headmaster John Ritzo. The guest reader read the very popular “Green Eggs and Ham.” The story was followed by Seuss games, a guessing jar of Swedish fish and a vote for the children’s favorite Dr. Seuss book.

The middle school students were then treated to green eggs and ham and a story by the special guest reader.

This time, students learned about some hidden politics behind some of Seuss’s more popular stories. Ritzo then read a Suess favorite, “Oh! The Places You’ll Go!”

During lunch, the Cat in the Hat paid a visit to help the librarian with prize drawings and to announce the winners of the guessing jars. The K- 4 winner was Lochlan Clark and the 5-8 winner was Faith Gould. Students were delighted when the Cat in the Hat even posed for photographs with each grade.