Company Reads Dr Seuss To

Middle Gate Students

By Jeff White

The words of Dr Seuss held Middle Gate students in rapt attention last Tuesday morning.

First Union Corporation brought their Reading First program to the elementary school in honor of their 10-year commitment to education, explained Mary Eshet, a company employee. Four employees read to students from kindergarten through fourth grade, each class silent as Dr Seuss’ classic Oh, the Places You’ll Go dazzled with its vivid, creative pictures and crafty rhymes.

Bob Elias, who has two children at Middle Gate, has often volunteered at various school events. So when First Union cased willing employees who could give their time in the three-week Reading First program, Mr Elias jumped on the opportunity. That morning, Mr Elias read to some six different classes.

“Reading First is a huge event and commitment for us,” explained Thomas H. O’Brien, Jr, a regional president for First Union. “[It’s also] probably one of our most important. It’s one thing to say you’re committed to reading and it’s another to harness the energy and support of employees to make it happen.”

In Connecticut alone, Oh the Places You’ll Go will be heard in almost 900 classrooms, 150 of them in the greater Danbury area. Nationally, First Union expects to reach over two million students.

It is the largest face-to-face, company-sponsored program in the country, explained Mr O’Brien, but it is simply a continuation of a commitment made by First Union years ago.

Each year, the company allows its employees to take one paid hour per week to devote to a reading/literacy program of their choosing. The Reading First program was implemented in 1997, and once a week for 30 weeks employees read to fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders and donated books to their classrooms. 

“We are proud to sponsor this reading event, which emphasizes the importance of literacy and reading aloud to children,” said Ed Crutchfield, First Union Chairman and CEO. “We believe helping a child learn and love to read is the best way we can improve that child’s chance of success in school and in life.”

Besides hearing a good story, Middle Gate students got a copy of Oh, the Places You’ll Go donated to their classroom, and each got a reading packet complete with a backpack tag, a bookmark and an educational activity sheet.

Financial specialist Mary Ann Naventi read to a Middle Gate third grade class, and as each page turned, a chorus of requests came from students to return to the previous page’s pictures for a closer examination. In some classes, the reading was followed by discussions about the book’s central themes and the importance of reading.

Similar reading days will take place in New Milford, Danbury, New Fairfield, Ridgefield and Bethel.

Mary Eshet recognizes that it would have been just as easy for the company to give money or something else to Middle Gate, but at a disservice to students.

“Reading to kids reinforces the importance of reading,” she said in the elementary school’s front lobby. “It’s our way to give something concrete to our schools.”