Sneetches and stars at Lakeview

MOSES LAKE — They sat and listened as Adam Munro read.

“SAD DAD BAD HAD Dad is sad. Very, very sad. He had a bad day. What a day Dad had!”

Munro, a school resource officer with the Moses Lake Police Department, is clearly no stranger to rooms full of tiny children who squirm as he reads Dr. Seuss.

But the kids really lit up when, after he finished, Munro asked if they had any questions.

“What’s that?” voices asked as small hands pointed to various items on his duty belt.

“Does anyone know what these are?” Munro asked as he held up a pair of handcuffs.

Hands shot up. Small voices answered.

“Hopefully, none of you will ever have to wear these,” Munro said.

Seuss, the children’s author famous for “The Cat in the Hat” and “Green Eggs and Ham,” would have been 113 on Thursday. So the teachers at Lakeview Elementary School marked the occasion by inviting members of the Big Bend Community College Vikings baseball team as well as Moses Lake Police officers and firefighters to come read Seuss’ books to the kids.

Students moved from classroom to classroom, with each class hearing three stories. Afterwards, they went to an assembly where a group of students acted out “The Sneetches,” Seuss’ tale of exclusion and acceptance where a mysterious stranger helps the Plain-Bellied Sneetches get green stars on their bellies so they can be part of the popular crowd.

“We’ve been doing this for five years,” said Megan Cox, a first-grade teacher who has taught at Lakeview for 14 years and helped organize the event. “The kids see community members, and the community members get to come into classrooms. And then the kids get a book.”

“This is a tradition with us,” said Vikings Coach Pete Doumit. “We’ve always believed the baseball team should give back to the community as much as we can, give kids a chance to aspire to something after they are done with school.”

And it’s good for the baseball players too, Doumit added.

“It’s as much a part of their education as it is the kids’,” he said.