Students at Totoket Valley Elementary School (TVES) were greeted on their March Community Day Assembly by 50 North Branford High School (NBHS) students who lined the halls to celebrate Read Across America Day and to motivate a continued love of reading.

These high school students, known as the Dream Team, are a group of mentors who work with TVES throughout the school year. They support classrooms with small group instruction, character education lessons, whole school events, and generally motivating and inspiring our elementary students. At Read Across America Day, in partnership with high school teacher and Dream Team leader Nicole Lacroix, these students took the lead after welcoming students.

The day opened with a whole school assembly/reading rally in the morning where Dream Teamers led students in a pledge to commit to reading. They also showed a video they created at their high school that introduced the "My Reading Life" campaign and inspired reading.　 The assembly went on, under the direction of the Dream Team, to include poems and student presentations from TVES classes. The assembly concluded with another video detailing an original song created and produced by the Dream Team around Dr. Seuss. Students and staff were impressed by the work of the Dream Team in leading the assembly.

The second part of the day included all 50 Dream Team students partnering with their TVES classes to teach lessons about how reading enriches your lives and how reading can improve academic and social success throughout school and life. These lessons were interactive, student-led and designed to get students interacting around reading

Finally, Read Across America Day at TVES ended with a whole-school quiet, sustained reading session of 30 minutes. Students lined the halls and got comfortable with their books, as did all staff members. It was a thing of beauty to see the whole school engaged with a book of their choice for 30 minutes, and it was a great way to honor Read Across America Day.

"I am simply blown away with the amount of time and preparation that went into today by Mrs. Lacroix and NBHS high school senior Julia Pietrogallo, who through her IPP developed, planned and led this event. The commitment to our school by the Dream Team continues to impress me, their service to their NB community is amazing, and their poise, leadership, and professionalism is second to none.　 Mrs. Lacroix, Julia and these students made the day here at TVES," said TVES principal Carter Welch Ed.D., adding, "...I am truly honored to be part of the learning, passion, and district collaboration by so many and our students are so lucky to be influenced by a community focused on care, collaboration and learning."

TVES is North Branford's grade 3 - 5 public school.