Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs will be joined by Coy Bowles of Zac Brown Band and the Read City USA Ambassadors from Carter High, First Lutheran School, Fountain City Elementary, Halls Elementary and Saint Joseph School for a creative writing session from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Thursday, March 6.
Bowles plays guitar, slide guitar, Dobro, piano and organ for the Zac Brown Band. He also contributes to the group, which will be in Knoxville for a show Thursday evening, as a songwriter with writing credits that include three number one hit songs; he also writes books for children.
Glenn Jacobs
In the session, which will take place in the Mayor’s Office Conference Room, sixth floor, City County Building, Bowles and Jacobs will work with students on a story about Read City USA. The students participating were represented by University of Tennessee-Knoxville athlete Trey Smith who won the Reading Gives You Wings Hot Wing Eating Contest that took place at Wild Wing Café on Monday, Feb. 10 to celebrate the conclusion of the Reading Gives You Wings Book Drive, which collected more than 11,000 books.
Schools across the county are closing a week-long celebration of Dr. Seuss and the National Education Association’s Read Across America initiative on Friday. Beginning at 7:45 a.m. and continuing until 2:40 p.m., Mayor Jacobs will read across the county visiting seven schools spreading from Carter to Cedar Bluff. Throughout the day, he will track his time on the Beanstack Tracker App.
Jacobs will also host a birthday party for Dr. Seuss from 4:30-6:30 p.m. at Adventure Action Park, 9305 Kingston Pike. Light party snacks will be provided. The event is free and open to the public. Any child arriving between 4:30 and 6 will receive 30 minutes of bouncing free. (Adventure Action socks and safety waiver still required.) Attendees can save time by completing the Online Safety Waiver in advance by visiting adventureactionpark.com, clicking “Plan Your Adventure” and selecting “Waiver” from the drop-down menu.
Each of these events are programs included in the Mayor’s Read City USA initiative that seeks to ensure all children, regardless of socioeconomic background, learn to read early and well.
Abbey Harris is deputy communications director for Knox County.