HEIGHTS — Mayor Bill Bazzi and his wife, Nadia Fadel-Bazzi, teamed up at City Hall to host a virtual reading session with second- and third-graders at the Kinloch Elementary School as National Reading Month came to an end.
Fadel-Bazzi entertained the students with several readings from Shel Silverstein’s “Where the Sidewalk Ends” book of poems while the mayor interacted with the students and answered their questions relating to his experiences as mayor and as a U.S. Marine veteran. Nadia explained,
“This was always one of my favorite books,” Fadel-Bazzi said. “My love for poetry began after reading Shel Silverstein’s books when I was an elementary school student.”
Throughout the session, Bazzi and Fadel-Bazzi also emphasized to the students the importance of continued reading as part of the lifelong learning process, as well as using their imagination and creativity.
“There are so many of his poems that are not just entertaining, but also provide a lot of insight and inspiration as well,” Fadel-Bazzi said. “I hope the students found the day as enjoyable as Bill and I did. We are grateful to Kinloch Principal Jill Marvaso for the opportunity to spend this time with her students”
Bazzi also enjoyed the event, and extended his compliments to all involved.
“I was really impressed with these students’ willingness to step up and ask their questions – and they asked some very good, well thought out ones,” he said. “It was an impressive group, and I hope we were able to put some smiles on their faces, because they certainly put some on ours!”