People in Meridian and across the Nation are enjoying a good book today.

Meridian, MS - Are you a person who likes to read? Well guess what, this is National Read Across America Day!

“I think any time they have opportunities to see and be with children, it just brings a smile to their faces.” says Mary Katherine Debardeleben, an administrative assistant at Lamar school.

She described how the students took part in today’s activities. “What we're doing today is we have selected our fourth and fifth graders from the right of review, newspaper staff and our student council to come to Aldersgate and read to the residents.”

She also points out the children get a lot of joy out of reading to the residents of the Retirement Community. “We love opportunities to come to Aldersgate. We do bring our second-grade class to sing Christmas carols in December, and then they reached out to us to see if we could do something for Read Across America Day. And this was a great way for us to partner together and celebrate the joy and the love of reading.”

Speaking of joy, Lamar student Sam Komar explained why he enjoys reading to the residents. "It's fun, because I have a 94-year-old grandmother who lives with my grandparents, and I'm used to being around older people. And since they live here and they really don't get to go anywhere, I think that this may be the highlight of their week."