“I use reading in my everyday life,” Fincher said.
Fincher read a story about an opossum, a relevant choice because opossums are frequently brought to the humane society by animal control officers — and because she had brought one with her to show the students.
Fincher sat Henry, a 1-year-old opossum who was wearing a harness, on her lap as she talked to the students about opossums and other animals that are treated at the humane society.
Henry was brought to the humane society to be treated for medical problems, but by the time he was ready to leave he was too domesticated to survive on his own in the wild, Fincher said, so the humane society has kept him as an educational animal.
Fincher explained how opossums play dead when they’re scared, secreting fluids to make predators think they’re rotting.
“Do you take him for walks?” asked Liam Graham, 8.
“More like he walks me,” Fincher answered.
Teoh said the guest readers encouraged the students to read by getting them excited about their jobs.
“They bring with them their passion for what they do,” Teoh said. “It instills a love of learning and reading.”
Lisa Sutton, a dance teacher and the owner of the Burbank School of the Ballet, brought with her a book called “Over the Meadow at the Big Ballet” to read to first-grade students.
She said education and reading were important in helping her explain French ballet terms to her dance students.
“Without reading and studying, I would not be the teacher I am,” she said.
Erik Zwerling, who produces computer games for Electronic Arts, read a fifth-grade class a “choose your own adventure” book, because that kind of interactive storytelling relates to the way the plot of an interactive video game unfolds, he said.
He told the students that he reads game strategy guides and books about computer coding.
“I talked about how reading is always important no matter how old you get,” Zwerling said.
ANGELA HOKANSON covers education. She may be reached at (818) 637-3238 or by e-mail at angelahokanson@latimes.com.
