CTA President Dean E. Vogel (at left) and Lou Paulson, president of the California Professional Firefighters Association, read “Boris Ate a Thesaurus” to students in Mrs. Susan Lopez’s class at Nicholas Elementary in Sacramento as part of Friday’s Read Across America efforts.

Pres. Vogel and Pres. Paulson, who is honorary head of the California 2012 celebration of reading, read to students in two classrooms.  To the students of Mrs. Lopez and Ms. Jill Bauman, the message was the same: reading can be fun, as well as educational.

The CTA leader joked with the students, confiding that about the only times he is not reading is while he is driving in his car or taking a shower.

The CTA President also spoke to a news team from Channel 19, the local Spanish language television station, and emphasized the importance of adults reading to children to help them achieve a love of reading.

Elsewhere around the state, other CTA leaders and thousands of teachers, parents, and business leaders are reading to students, encouraging them to make reading a hobby and a habit.