Schools across Beaufort County focused in on the importance of reading this week, and having fun while doing it.

It was all part of the nationwide celebration of Read Across America Day on Wednesday in honor of Dr. Seuss’ birthday.

Elementary classrooms welcomed readers from all aspects of the community, including grandparents, high school students, county commissioners, Board of Education members, law enforcement and Vidant employees, to name a few.

“Motivating children to read is an important factor in student achievement and creating lifelong successful readers. Research has shown that children who are motivated and spend more time reading do better in school,” according to the National Education Association’s website.

Catherine Tahaney, principal at S.W. Snowden Elementary School, said they had guests reading their favorite books to the younger grades throughout the day on Wednesday.

She said a couple of the big visitors were Sen. Bill Cook and Aurora Mayor Clif Williams, and some of the school’s middle school students were also able to read a book of their choice to the younger grades.

“It’s really to help the kids realize the importance of reading for enjoyment,” Tahaney said. “It’s an opportunity for community involvement.”

Keeping with a strong theme of learning, she said the school was also able to incorporate presentations on dental health from students at East Carolina University’s School of Dentistry — relating the importance of reading to pursuing a chosen career path.

“I had a wonderful time reading to the students at S.W. Snowden Elementary School. It is the single most fundamental responsibility of our public education system — and our moral obligation as public officials — to ensure every child in North Carolina can read,” Sen. Cook said in a statement.

Eastern Elementary School also joined in the fun, but the school extended its Read Across America celebration to an all-week affair.

Eastern Elementary had a total of more than 35 community members signed up to visit and read to some of the classes this week, as well as 50 Washington High School students.

Beaufort County Schools Superintendent Don Phipps also made an appearance to both schools to show his support for the reading encouragement.

Choosing to read “Farm Flu” by Teresa Bateman, the first-graders at Eastern Elementary were excited to answer Phipps’ questions, ranging in topic from farm animal sounds to what they thought would happen next in the story.

“It was an opportunity to them to read to the kids and share some of their favorite books with them,” Tahaney said of S.W. Snowden’s visitors. “It was a pretty good showing.”