Volunteer Reading to Kiddies

I volunteered on Friday morning at a local elementary school in Atlanta for their WAR program - "We All Read" which combats illiteracy by providing kids with books and volunteers to read a few chapters.  My company provided each kid with a goodie bag with 5 of the top rated kids books in America, including:

I walked into the library to meet my colleagues and one of their wives (who helped coordinate the whole thing) accosted me immediately and tried to convince me to put on a velcro Cat in the Hat suit and entertain the kids.  I do not entertain on command.  What I do is get sweaty and red faced and back away.  Luckily, I was saved by another coworker who I heard did an awesome job and was even answering kids questions in rhymes?  What?  Rhyming velcro cat > sweaty crying cat...  Especially on Fridays.

I got way into reading to my 3rd graders and read the first three chapters of Charlotte's Web, with attempted voices, obviously.  The kids were so cute and seemed to really get into the book, especially chapter 3, when Wilbur tries to make an escape!  I probably scarred some of them away from reading forever but hopefully convinced a few to go home and keep reading Charlotte's Web, or pick up one of the others. 

It was really fun and got me wondering where else I could get involved.  I haven't done any real volunteering since high school, when I used to help host little science classes for elementary school kids to learn to make Gak (remember Gak?!) and baking soda volcanoes.  

Could be a fun way to meet people and get involved in our new community in Cinci!

So bummed I didn't get a picture of this, so instead I'm stealing some from the local media at v103.  Just pretend that's me.  I was also wearing a Cat in the Hat hat, and I have brown hair too.