Who doesn't like Green Eggs and Ham? “You do not like them. So you say," read Erie Mayor Joe Schember to children at St. Benedict Child Development Center. "Try them! Try them! And you may. Try them and you may, I say.” The children in the Center's Head Start classroom might not be convinced to try green eggs and ham, but they certainly liked the Mayor's reading of the Dr. Seuss classic. Five-year-old Izayah was quick to point out, "I like to read books. I like Green Eggs and Ham, but I don't like to eat it!"

The Mayor's visit on March 2 marked National Read Across America Day and Dr. Seuss' birthday, which the children celebrated wearing their hand-crafted red and white cat-in-the-hat top hats. Mayor Schember, whose mother Helen was on the faculty of St. Benedict Academy, the original occupant of the building on East 9th Street where the Child Development Center is now housed, told the children that he took piano lessons in the building as a child. Obviously enjoying his return to Benedictine ground and time with the children, he commended the teachers and staff, telling them, "These children are the future of our city, and reading is an important investment in not only their education but also their well-being."

Education Coordinator Alyssa Kissell, also a Benedictine oblate and a mother of three young children, said of the visit, "Reading to children is so, so important for children's development and learning. As education professionals, we are taught that reading to a child from the moment they are born helps create connections in the brain. We are very happy that Mayor Joe Schember was able to visit St. Ben's and share his love of books with us!"