Read Across America, a national program that promotes reading and adult involvement in the education of our students, will be celebrated tomorrow, March 2. March is the birthday month of Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss. His books have led generations of children to learn the joy of reading.

Gockley’s theme this year will be based on Dr. Seuss’s book “If I Ran the Zoo.” Inspired by their theme book, students and staff are encouraged to wear clothing with animal prints or animal photos. There will be a variety of classroom activities. Each student will receive a special Dr. Seuss item.

High school students from Lehigh Career & Technical Institute will be special guest readers. Also, each classroom will have a special craft. Throughout the district, other buildings will be participating in various activities to celebrate reading.

The district encourages all families to make a special time of reading together and enjoy a visit to their local library.

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Pennies for Patients, also known as Pasta for Pennies, is underway at Zephyr Elementary School. This is an annual fundraiser for Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Students received a small box to collect change for the cause.

The campaign will end March 8. Homeroom classrooms are competing for the most money collected. Each classroom has a chart to track its progress. The winning homeroom will receive a pasta luncheon courtesy of Olive Garden.

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Schools will be closed March 9 for a professional development day for teachers.

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Spring break will be held March 29-April 2. In the event there is another school closing due to inclement weather, March 29 will become a school makeup day.

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Students from Whitehall High School’s Science Olympiad team will compete in the central eastern regional competition March 15 at Kutztown University. More than 700 students representing 26 high schools and 12 middle schools from Berks, Lehigh, Northampton, Northumberland and Schuylkill counties will compete in 46 different events.

In its 34th year, the Science Olympiad is an international nonprofit organization devoted to improving the quality of K-12 science education, creating a passion for learning science and providing recognition for outstanding achievement in science education by both students and teachers. These goals are accomplished through classroom activities, research, professional development workshops and the encouragement of intramural, district, regional, state, national and international tournaments.

The Olympiad is organized by schools at the junior high and senior high levels. Each school sends one team to compete in a variety of events. High school teachers serve as the coaches, judges and coordinators.

Competitions are conducted at four levels: local, regional, state and national. The local competition is designed to prepare students for regional competition. No teams are eliminated in the local competition. At the regional level, the top-ranked teams move on to the state competition. The Pennsylvania Science Olympiad state tournament will take place April 28 at Juniata College.

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Do you have any Whitehall-Coplay School District news? Teachers, administrators, parents, students, coaches, PTAs, club advisers and any other community members are invited to share their upcoming activities. Email me at jamb87@hotmail.com with “Whitehall-Coplay School News” in the subject line at least a week before an event.