Dozens of children at Valley Elementary School sat wide-eyed and smiling as they spent part of Valentine’s Day reading classic stories with honorary Rolling Readers volunteers.

Part of the Share Your Love of Reading event hosted by Rolling Readers, the scene at Valley Elementary was similar to many across the county, where 31 celebrities and local media, elected and school officials read books to students at 15 elementary schools.

Retired 10News anchor Hal Clement read The Cat in the Hat to a group of third graders after a short chat.  One student recognized him. Another wasn’t surprised when he told the class he’d been in the news industry for 41 years.

Also present were Poway Unified School District board members Linda Vanderveen and Todd Gutschow, who were joined by 10News weathercaster Robert Santos. They read I Am Invited to a Party!, The Lorax, and Are You Ready to Play Outside, sharing laughs with first, second and fifth graders.

“I think the idea today was to increase the awareness of Rolling Readers around the city,” said Ranessa Ashton, an eight-year volunteer who serves on the organization’s board of directors. “The two main things that I hope people take away from the event is understanding who we are and how they can help.”

She says they’re always in need of reading volunteers, and monetary or book donations.

“Borders bookstore was one of our major supporters, so we have a gap to fill because we used to get thousands of books from them,” Ashton said.

Founded in 1991, Rolling Readers is a non-profit organization that promotes literacy among children by reading to students at schools in low-income communities every week throughout the academic year.

Editor’s note: Patch is a media sponsor of this event.