Mayors read to children

Sycamore Mayor Ken Mundy reads "Farmer Brown Turned Upside Down" to children at the Kishwaukee Family YMCA Wednesday morning. Mundy, DeKalb Mayor Kris Povlsen and Cortland Town President Bob Seyller visited the Y to read to children in the preschool and KidZone programs. (Dana Herra - dherra@daily-chronicle.com)

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DeKALB – Bob Seyller likes to think of himself as a role model.

The Cortland town president was joined Wednesday morning by Sycamore Mayor Ken Mundy and DeKalb Mayor Kris Povlsen at the Kishwaukee Family YMCA, where the men read stories to children in the preschool program and the KidZone Activity Center, where parents can leave their children while they work out.

"It's modeling to kids," Seyller said. "A lot of the readers to kids are women. It's important for kids to see prominent men in the community reading, so they think, 'Gee, he's the mayor or he's the police chief, and he sits down and reads. Maybe it is cool.' "

Preschool coordinator Sherrie McSwan agreed, saying children are inspired when they meet people in the community.

"They love to have someone different, someone important, they can look up to," she said.

Each of the three brought their own style to the stories they told the children. Seyller paused frequently to make side comments to the children, relating what was going on in the story to things in their lives. Mundy commented on the illustrations in the book he read, and asked the children to help him make the farm animal sounds in the book. Povlsen read a rhyming book with a strong rhythm, and encouraged the children who knew the book to recite it along with him.

"We all read to kids in schools and libraries and things," Mundy said. "A lot of times, you get into books and stories that are so widely known, you can't skip a page because the kids know the story and they'll catch you. It becomes a really interactive reading experience."

YMCA marketing coordinator Debbie Madeley said the three mayors approached her with the idea of coming together to read to the children.

"Of course, I jumped at it," she said. "This was all their idea. It's just such a beautiful example of how these men walk the walk in helping kids in our community."