Staff reporter
ELSMERE – To celebrate their dedication to reading, students at All Saints Catholic School welcomed a special visitor to campus on Thursday afternoon. The Phillie Phanatic traveled to Elsmere to celebrate the second grade’s accomplishments in the “Be a Phanatic About Reading” program.
As part of the program, the second-graders read for a minimum of 15 minutes each night. They began in the fall and have finished thousands of books, and they are still reading. The Phanatic brought with him his new book, “The Phillie Phanatic’s Phantastic Journey,” which principal Diana Thompson read as the Phanatic acted it out, complete with props.
The gymnasium was a sea of Phillies red and white, and the students took particular pleasure in the Phanatic’s treatment of Thompson’s Mets hat, which he tossed around the gym and sneezed on before handing it back to her. The only thing on Thompson’s head after that was a sombrero that was part of the book.
The Phanatic also congratulated several of the school’s students for their reading proficiency, and he danced with a number of students and faculty members before heading out to that night’s game with the Milwaukee Brewers in Philadelphia.
