Let’s Read! Let’s Move! hosted their first White House event on Wednesday to educate and entertain a group of local DC students on healthy and active living. The typically grandiose ballroom was transformed into a kaleidoscope of color with life-sized balloons, Seuss characters, and Cat-in-the-Hat accouterments to match! Forty students from Seaton, Kendall Demonstration, and Drew Elementary schools (DC Public Schools) participated in the event with the First Lady, Michelle Obama.

Let’s Move! Executive Director, Deb Eschmeyer, welcomed students and was joined by a student from Kendall Demonstration Elementary school to introduce the First Lady. Mrs. Obama treated students to a rousing read of the brand new Dr. Seuss book titled, Oh, the Things You Can Do That Are Good for You.  The First Lady was also joined by Dr. Seuss characters and local volunteers from the YMCA and AmeriCorps.

First Lady Michelle Obama, as part of her Let's Move! and Let’s Read! Let’s Move! initiatives, hosts local students for a special reading of Dr. Seuss's "Oh, The Things You Can Do That Are Good for You: All About Staying Healthy" during an event in the East Room of the White House, Jan. 21, 2015. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

The team partnered together to lead students in interactive read-along exercises, and challenged students to incorporate physical activity into a traditionally sedentary story time. Throughout Oh, the Things You Can Do That Are Good for You, The Cat in the Hat explains the importance of eating right based on the latest USDA My Plate recommendations; staying active; getting enough sleep, and a host of other daily activities.

Following the story, students reenacted the highlights of the book with the First Lady, which included an impromptu limbo contest and plenty of dancing. Afterwards the students were treated to healthy snacks crafted from recipes in the back of the book and prepared by the White House Kitchen.  These tasty treats, and room with flare, demonstrated to the students that food can be healthy and still taste good.  

This book was made possible with the help of Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) who worked with Dr. Seuss Enterprises (DSE) and Random House Children’s Books (RHCB) to celebrate reading and healthy lifestyle choices for children and families, anchored by a newly updated edition of The Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library™ title, Oh, the Things You Can Do That Are Good For You. Thanks to the expertise of PHA, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to make healthier choices easier for busy children and families the book was updated with 15 pages of brand new content.

"Let's Read! Let's Move!" is the Let’s Move! sub-initiative that aims to increase awareness about the critical importance of summer learning, nutrition and physical activity. The U.S. Department of Education launched “Let’s Read! Let’s Move!” in 2010, following an Administration-wide effort by the Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal agency which administers AmeriCorps and other service programs. These events bring together hundreds of early learning students—pre-kindergarten through third grade—across a diverse demographic stretching from the Washington D.C. metropolitan area and beyond. To promote community service, volunteers from AmeriCorps and the YMCA assist at Let’s Read! Let’s Move! events.

Check out video from the event here: