When she was in elementary school, Amanda Fegley would listen to Panther Valley High School students read Dr. Seuss stories as part of Read Across America Day.

Now that she’s a high school senior, and a leader of Panther Valley’s JROTC program, she’s the one reading to students.

“I still remember them, a lot of them being read to me, so it’s really nice to pass that on,” she said.

After several delays due to snow and a teacher in-service day, Panther Valley students celebrated Dr. Seuss’ birthday on Thursday.

JROTC cadets from Panther Valley Junior-Senior High School read books like “Horton Hatches an Egg” and “ABC.”

March 2 would have been Dr. Seuss’ 115th birthday. He died in 1991, but he’s still relevant to kids and teachers.

Kids recognize the characters, and they enjoy the rhyming words in the books.

“A lot of his books are actually leveled well above our students reading levels. But When you hear them, they’re able to make connections that they need to move on to reading,” Principal Robert Palazzo said.

Kindergarten teacher Jill Niehoff said Seuss’ use of silly characters and nonsense words resonate with kids of all ages.

This year, Panther Valley Elementary planned several activities to celebrate Read Across America and Dr. Seuss.

They played a game of Dr. Seuss bingo on Thursday. On Wednesday they had a game of Seussical Chairs.

“During Seussical chairs you could see the excitement on their faces, they didn’t want to put the books down when I told them to stop,” said Kim Scarcella, the district’s Title I reading coordinator.

Niehoff’s class designed their own Dr. Seuss characters.

Thursday was also a dress down day, with students and staff dressing as Dr. Seuss characters and wearing Seuss-themed T-shirts.

Teachers said Read Across America is something that students look forward to every year. Scarcella said it helps to get the students excited about reading.

The students also get excited to see high school students in their halls, giving them something to aspire to.

Before they read to Heather Wagner’s kindergarten class, the JROTC cadets had students recited a reading pledge which got them excited.

“We get excited easily in kindergarten, and we like visitors. Definitely when we have the older kids come down, it’s an amazing bond that happens,” she said.

Niehoff said she can remember when the JROTC students roamed the halls of Panther Valley Elementary.

For the high schoolers, there is a feeling of bonding too. But there are also some nerves. Anyone who’s ever read Dr. Seuss can understand why. Fegley had to read passages like “Little Lola Lopp. Left Leg. Lazy lion licks a lollipop.”

And it’s likely that in a decade or so, the students she read to will be back at PVE continuing the tradition.

“I still remember them, a lot of them being read to me, so it’s really nice to pass that on,” Fegley said.