WS Chronicle

Carver High School students celebrated Dr. Seuss’ birthday – also known as Read Across America Day – by celebrating the winners of a Dr. Seuss-theme essay contest.
Contestants, including members of the Carver High School Book Club, dressed like their favorite Dr. Seuss character.

For their essays, students were asked to juxtapose a theme found in a work by Dr. Seuss with a similar theme in a work by another author. Seniors competed against the juniors, and the freshmen were pitted against the sophomores for the contest. English teacher Dr. Felecia Piggott-Long received a grant from the Forsyth County Association of Educators to offer cash prizes to the winners. The first-place winners received $100; the second place winners received $50; and the third-place winner received $25. All of the other participants received $10.

Seniors Iyans People (“The Dangers of Discrimination in The Sneetches by Dr. Seuss and The Murder of Emmett Till by David Aretha”), Asha Piggott (“How Dr. Seuss and Alan Lawrence Sitomer Encourage Cultural Diversity in The Cat in the Hat and The Secret Story of Sonia Rodriquez”) and Tierra McCullough (“Discrimination as a Theme in The Sneeches by Dr. Seuss and A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines”) won first, second and third place, respectively. Among the freshman and sophomores, Dvon Mitchell (“Discrimination in The Sneeches by Dr. Seuss and A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines”) won first place; Jada Summers (“Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss and A Place at the Table: Struggles for Equality in America from Teaching Tolerance”) won second; and the pair of Yakira Muhammad and Kaitlyn Vang (“Horton Hears a Who and The Sneeches by Dr. Seuss and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne”) took third place.

“This contest encourages students to appreciate literacy, and I can tell that the students made a connection with the books they read,” said Assistant Principal Barbara Burke. “I can tell that they identified with the lesson learned in each work.”

Burke judged the contest along with faculty/staff members Robyn Gorham, Amber Douse, Kim Campbell, Garrett Davis, Sherry Bryant and Yakira Mickens.