Students in Doug Lessnow's first-grade class at Bedford Elementary School in Dearborn Heights were part of March Reading Month when Animal Planet TV host Dan McKernan came to read to the class. He is showing off the book he received. These books were donated by The Yellow Rose Builders and distributed to students in Lessnow. (Michael Quentz — MediaNews Group)
During National Reading Month, first graders at Bedford Elementary School in Dearborn Heights got a taste of the love of reading through a week of readings by celebrity guest readers.
First-grade teacher Doug Lessnau, affectionately known to his students as “Mr. L,” brought his classroom to entertain and read during the week of March 11-15. We were able to assemble a core of local celebrities who came to the event.
Alan Longstreet, a meteorologist from WJBK-TV (Fox 2), read “Everyone Poops” aloud and shared the silly fun with the class.
OW Best Middle School Principal Ariel Brown also visited the class and read stories from the “Frog and Toad” series.
“I love all the people who work in my community. But I love Alan Longstreet, and that was crazy too. He loved “Everybody Poops,'' and it was his book And it was a great book,” Lessnow said.
Lessnow's friend, film and television director Fred Walton, attended the class virtually via Zoom.
Director Walton, who directed “When a Stranger Calls,'' “The Rosario Murders,'' several episodes of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' and “Miami Vice,'' and multiple made-for-television movies, directed “Sredny.'' He enlightened children with a story entitled 'Vashtar'. ”. Written by Hector Hugh Munro under the pen name “Saki,” this book is a story about a boy and his cousin who learn about the ability to do bad things and their consequences.
Lessnow first met Walton as a child when Walton's father was working on the Detroit film “The Rosario Murders,'' and they both shared a birthday, May 14th. Knew.
But perhaps the biggest surprise guest was when Dan McKernan, the human star of Animal Planet's TV show Saved by the Burn, came to class on Friday, March 15th.
Outside the classroom door was a bright blue hand-painted banner welcoming guest readers. The poster featured Mr McKernan nose-to-nose with a large pig next to the words “Welcome Dan!”
Mr. McKernan left his engineering job in Texas to run his family's 140-year-old farm and has since become a passionate advocate for animal rights. He primarily focuses on abused and neglected animals.
“Thanks to my dad, I always had a farm in my family and I would go visit my grandparents every summer and winter vacation. And I spent a lot of time in that big barn bouncing around on lots of hay bales. “I remember working in technology and being stuck in an office for so long that I wanted to get outside,'' McKernan said.
“I've always loved animals. And when I was a kid, I always wanted to be a veterinarian and fix animals. That's how I started. My father said if I could pay for the food, I would take the animals. I said, OK, we can start a rescue mission. And he said, 'Are you sure you want to quit your full-time job?'” McKernan said.
The opportunity to return to the farm and turn it into an animal sanctuary led McKernan to quit his engineering job and return to Dexter.
Mr. McKernan came to read a book he wrote about farm animals titled “This Farm is a Family.”
Mr McKernan said: “I was inspired to write this book when I realized how many children love farm animals.'' I really didn't expect to start the Sanctuary and be able to connect with so many kids who either want to be around farm animals or have never met one before. ”
Lessnow's students watched every episode of the TV show and many of McKernan's other farm videos on YouTube and knew the names and characteristics of all the animals.
Throughout the show, McKernan teaches viewers a lot about the various farm animals he adopts and the backstories of how they came to the farm.
Mr. McKernan sat down at the front of the class and the children told him about their favorite animals, including Mike, Dexter, a cow named Whitney, Little Dude, Jasper, Big Papa, a pig named Jasmine, and a goat named Steve. He talked about his favorite animal that appears in the TV series. And Winter the dog.
The Lessnow students wanted to know when and where certain animals came to the farm. When Mr. McKernan gave a specific date, many children said it was the year they were born or the year before they were born.
The Lessnow students bombarded McKernan with all kinds of questions about farm life and the animals, especially the types of pigs on the farm. McKernan said the farm has 27 large pigs and 24 pot-bellied pigs.
“Pigs can't sweat, so they like to cool off in the mud. To cool off in the sun, they like to jump into mud puddles,” McKernan said with a laugh. he said.
McKernan said a pig named Jasper weighed more than 900 pounds and Big Papa the Pig weighed more than 1,000 pounds, adding, “I think our heaviest animal is a cow. And his name is Henry.'' He probably weighs close to 2,500 pounds and is over 6 feet tall.”
McKernan told her children that a video she was uploading to YouTube caught the attention of a producer at Animal Planet and asked if they could make it into a TV show.
“Animals are the most popular. They're the celebrities of the sanctuary. If they could post pictures of themselves online, I'm sure they would, because people would ask us, 'Where's Little Dude?' , 'Where's Mike the Cow?''' McKernan said she is often asked what it's like to work with animals as a TV star.
McKernan's book illustrations were done by a friend named Dennis Hughes. Lessnow's students immediately recognized the farm animals from their caricatures.
Lessnow's partner, Sean Cagle, donated signed copies of McKernan's book, “This Farm is a Family,” to every student in the class. Cagle's company, The Yellow Rose Builders, purchased the book.
Thanks to the generosity of Ms. Cagle's company, students at Bedford Elementary School have field trips paid for, countless treats delivered to Ms. Lessnau's classroom, and children provided with clothing throughout the winter. and received donations for the annual toy drive.
Several Dearborn Heights school board members, police officers, firefighters, Mayor Bill Bazzi, local celebrity and radio personality John Zadikian, Wayne County Commissioner Dave Knezek, and WDIV-TV (Channel 4) sportscaster. Jamie Edmonds also visited Bedford Elementary School during March for the national competition. Reading Month.
