ADM Volunteers Celebrate Literacy in the Classroom on Read Across America Day
Volunteers from ADM's Decatur complex read books to students at American Dreamer STEM Academy
Read Across America Day is nationally recognized on March 2 in honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday. Each year, schools and nonprofit organizations nationwide celebrate this occasion with a reading motivation and awareness program that calls for every child in every community to celebrate reading with a particular theme. For Decatur Public Schools (DPS), this year's theme was diversity and celebrating a nation of diverse readers.
To help celebrate the joys of learning and literacy, volunteers from ADM's Decatur complex took time out of their schedules to read preselected books to students at American Dreamer STEM Academy on March 1.
In addition to reading books, ADM colleagues shared insights into their careers and how ADM impacts the local community.
Among the volunteers was Heidi Oswald, plant manager at ADM's Glycol facility in Decatur. Oswald read the book "The Koala Who Could" by Rachel Bright to a 3rd grade class, a story that explores the themes of developing the confidence to try new things.
"ADM volunteers took time to read books at the American Dreamer STEM Academy to celebrate Read Across America Day. Any interaction children have with books and people from their own community is a benefit for them," Oswald said.
"To be able to read a story and talk about it afterwards is especially important because it stresses comprehension - it's important to be able to know how to read and understand what we're reading. It's also great to be involved in this type of community outreach because the students can ask us questions about what we do and how we impact the community at large," Oswald added.