The Grizz visits elementary classrooms to inspire love of reading

By Katie Land, news editor

OU's mascot, the Grizz and Rep. Haines read the story, "Hello, Grizz!" to students at Jayno Adams Elementary in Waterford.

Oakland University’s grizzly spirit has been spreading into elementary classrooms across the state, with the publication and distribution of the original children’s story book, “Hello Grizz!”

In honor of “March is Reading Month,” State Representatives Gail Haines and Tim Melton have joined OU alumni and the Grizz in leading the charge in schools throughout the community.

“We wanted to reach out to alumni and students to make this a community-wide effort and stress the importance of reading at the same time,” said Luke Fleer, coordinator of the Alumni Admissions Ambassador Program.

Haines and the Grizz surprised students at Jayno Adams Elementary in Waterford by reading the story aloud to their classes this week. Melton, an OU alumnus, CAS ‘ 95, is scheduled to read to students at Herrington Elementary in Pontiac later this month.

In all, the Grizz will visit 10 elementary schools this month. Many of the participating teachers are Oakland alumni and teach at schools in Detroit, Rochester, Lamphere, Chippewa Valley and more.

The program, Grizzly Story Time Visits, was put together as a collaboration between the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, Alumni Relations and Government Relations.

Government Relations showed their support by giving copies of the book to state legislators. “The Office of Government Relations was happy to partner with Undergraduate Admissions and Alumni Relations by getting our local elected officials involved in the effort to share the story of OU to elementary school students.”

“Hello, Grizz!” tells the story of Oakland as the Grizz takes a tour and learns about the university’s history and what it is like to be a student. The book was penned by OU staff members Dawn Aubry Slowik, Melinda Booth, Kelly Garnett and Kelly Smith.

Copies of “Hello, Grizz!” are available for purchase online at the NCAA Gear Shop. 

To learn more about Grizzly Story Time Visits, call Undergraduate Admissions Programming at (248) 370-4556 or email visit@oakland.edu.