Agriculture Secretary Hance Reads to Students at Sunderland Elementary School

SUNDERLAND, MD (March 23, 2012) – Agriculture Secretary Buddy Hance today read to kindergarten and first grade students at Sunderland Elementary School in Southern Maryland as part of “Read Across Maryland” Month and Ag Literacy Week (March 19-24).

A Calvert County farmer, Secretary Hance selected two books by Cris Peterson that feature beautiful, vibrant, close-up photographs by David Lundquist. Secretary Hance read Seed, Soil, Sun: Earth’s Recipe for Food to the kindergarteners. The book explains how air and water combine with seed, soil, and sun to create nearly all the food we eat. The first graders heard the story of Clarabelle ~ Making Milk and So Much More, which explains life and technology on a large, modern-day dairy farm.

“I’m happy to be here today with the students from Sunderland Elementary School and to share my passion for agriculture and the environment with them,” said Secretary Hance. “The ‘Read Across Maryland’ campaign encourages children to read and learn not just this month, but all year long.  Working together with educators, our public libraries, and families across Maryland, we can prepare the future leaders of Maryland to live and learn with excitement.  I encourage every family to take up Governor O’Malley’s challenge and read with their children for at least 30 minutes every day in March and to develop the habit of reading.”

“We share Secretary Hance’s passion and enthusiasm for reading and welcome him to our school,” said Sunderland Elementary School Principal Karen Vogel. “We embrace the importance of reading across settings in the lives of our students and Mutual community.”

For the fourth year in a row, the O’Malley-Brown Administration is partnering with the Maryland State Education Association, the Maryland Library Association, and the Maryland Association of School Librarians to encourage educators, parents and children to read 30 minutes a day for 30 days as part of a “Read 30 for 30” theme.

This year also marks the second annual Ag Literacy Campaign, launched by the Maryland Agriculture Education Foundation. The campaign calls on representatives of Maryland’s agriculture industry to visit elementary school classrooms across the state, read a selected book and talk to students about the importance of agriculture in their lives. The selected book for 2012 is the Clarabelle book Secretary Hance read to the first graders. The 2011 book was the Seed, Soil, Sun book he read to the kindergarteners.

“Read Across Maryland” was inspired by the National Education Association’s “Read Across America” program, which encourages children across the country to celebrate reading on March 2, the birthday of children’s author Dr. Seuss. Throughout March, Maryland’s public school students have been treated to readings by community leaders, elected officials, published authors and educators to promote daily reading.

For more information on Read Across Maryland, visit www.readacrossmaryland.org.