Guests read to Bowling Green students

Bowling Green was the site of local celebrities on March 11. The famous faces included parents, teachers, principals, administrators, community leaders and government officials who stopped by to read to the students.

The Guest Reader Day, sponsored by the Bowling Green PTA, was filled with special guests who visited classes throughout the
morning. 

Guest readers included Hempstead Town Clerk Mark Bonilla, School Superintendent Louis DeAngelo, Assistant Superintendent for Personnel and Administration Anthony Russo, Nassau County Police Officer Frank Inzerello, Nassau County Acting Sheriff Michael Sposato, Bowling Green Principal Maria Ciarametaro and many more community members, local leaders and parents. 

It was a homecoming for school board trustee Corey Fanelli, who read in the same kindergarten classroom that he once was in. 

Most of the guest readers presented stories with important meanings attached to them. Bonilla read Tikki Tikki Tembo to Christine Peer’s fourth-grade class, a book with a valuable message. “We have everyday heroes around us,” he told the students. “Your teachers, your moms and your dads.”

Stephanie Ann Rafanelli led the PTA committee that organized the program. She said that programs like these help motivate the kids to enjoy reading. Though it was fun for the students to meet local officials and school leaders, Rafanelli said they especially enjoy when their family members stop in to read to their classes. 

“Anything that gets the kids reading,” she said. “They look forward to having their family members here.”