From picture books like The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle to classics like To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, there is undoubtedly a book out there for every person to enjoy. 

To promote reading among children and teenagers, the National Education Association (NEA) launched the Read Across America program in 1998. 

Ever since then, National Read Across America Day has taken place every March 2nd, also the birthdate of late children’s book author, Dr. Seuss. 

Amid the book ban efforts spreading throughout America, Loretto Academy utilized the week of February 27, 2022, to celebrate the power of reading and the impact it has on education.

Banned books

In January 2022, a Tennessee school district banned the graphic novel, Maus, by Art Spiegelman. 

The novel was first published in book form in 1986 and tells the story of Spiegelman’s connection to the Holocaust.

Written in a comic book style, Jews are depicted as mice, and Nazis are depicted as cats. 

At a presentation at the University of El Paso in October 2016, Spiegelman said, “This book gives you a sense of the reality of what happened and also the unreality of photographs.

These [mice] masks allow you further in than a photograph might.”

The Tennessee school district argued that the book ban was due to eight curse words and an illustration of a mouse who committed suicide. 

In an interview with Der Spiegel in 2022, Spiegelman said, “They [the school district] said they did want to teach the Holocaust.

 But the impression I got from their language was that they wanted a nicer, softer, fuzzier Holocaust than I’m presenting.”

Although this is not the first instance of book censorship, the American Library Association reported a recent surge of 330 “book challenges” at the end of 2021. 

Additionally, a majority of the novels were written by ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ authors, or women. 

Every year, Loretto’s librarian, Ms.Villasana, displays banned books in the library. 

Villasana said, “It is very important for students to read banned books so they have exposure to all different types of literature that is available to them.

We want to gain curiosity as to why the book was banned and become engaged in that type of reading material.”

These recent censorship issues play a role in the timeliness and prominence of this year’s National Read Across America Week. 

DEAR at Loretto

On February 28th, all Loretto students, faculty, and staff participated in “Drop Everything and Read” (DEAR).

This meant that for the first 20 minutes of school, everyone on campus was obligated to read any book, magazine, or newspaper.

Loretto Elementary 

To celebrate Read Across America Week, elementary students attended storytime with Loretto alum Estefania Seyffert.

Seyffert works as an investigative reporter for KFOX14 and CBS4. 

Before reading to the students, Seyffert said, “Reading and writing will help you in any field you go into.”

Throughout the week, elementary students had the opportunity to participate in activities inspired by Dr. Seuss’s books.

The activities included wearing a Dr. Seuss hat, wearing mismatched socks, and showcasing a crazy hairstyle. 

Loretto Middle School

Middle school students participated in various literacy lessons and engaging activities for Read Across America Week. 

Iris Lopez, Creator/Anchor for KVIA’s Sunday Funday Moment and founder of a local non-profit organization, ‘Mija, Yes you can’, was a guest speaker for middle school students. 

To end the week, reading teacher, Ms. Meraz, held a book character costume contest for her classes on March 4th. 

Six students from Ms. Meraz’s classes were nominated to represent their respective class periods.

The class with the best-dressed student was awarded a pizza party. 

Loretto High School

During a presentation with guest speaker Mr. Roland Guerrero, Mr. Gad’s speech and debate team discussed the pros and cons of banning books.

After the debate, Mr. Guerrero said, “We have to be aware of the social dynamics: the paranoia of some parents and the mistrust of teachers.

These are real social dynamics, but they are not solved by banning books or stopping books from being banned.”

Schoolwide activities

On March 3rd, University of Texas at El Paso President Dr. Heather Wilson and Bishop Mark Seitz read to Loretto students from all grades and answered their questions. 

The Co-Editors-in-Chief of The Prax had a chance to discuss banned books with Dr. Wilson after her presentation. 

Dr. Wilson said, “I think you should probably identify a long list of banned books, understand why they were banned, and read them.

 There are some books that may not be appropriate for different ages of students.

There are books that you read as teenagers, that if you have little brothers and sisters, you probably don’t need to explain them all to them at that age.

 I think you should read widely and think critically about everything you read.” 

Bishop Seitz spoke about the impact that reading has had on his journey of becoming a bishop, along with the importance of reading banned books.

Bishop Seitz said, “There are probably books that people are trying to ban just because they have a different opinion.

 We should have the chance to be exposed to other opinions. 

I think it’s important to be at the right age level and have some guidance because some things can just be confusing.

 But there are certainly books that I don’t think are worthy of being in anybody’s eyes, like for instance, pornography.

 No one is benefited by that, and I don’t think there is any right definition of freedom that says we should be exposing people to things that are so negative and disrespectful of human life and dignity.

 I think there are limits: books that espouse racism, or there are even people that write in favor of child abuse.

 I don’t think we should be giving a forum to things that are like that.”

Every day can be National Read Across America Day

Although March is National Reading Month, the Read Across America program should be acknowledged every day of the year.

In addition to the overall enjoyment that reading provides, it reduces stress, improves comprehension, and fosters knowledge. 

The Loretto community will continue to celebrate the value that reading has had in their lives and use it to change the world.