Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies

PBS host hits the books with students

At Pine View Elementary, the children meet the force behind Reading Rainbow .

LAND O'LAKES - With a "visitor" sticker prominently displayed on his white T-shirt, actor LeVar Burton was there to do one of the things he likes best: read.

But first he wanted to know the names of each student gathered on the floor before him in the media center at Pine View Elementary School.

John David Kappeller waited patiently until Burton got to the last row where he was sitting.

"I'm John David," said the first-grader. "And I also watch your show."

To that some might ask, "Which one?"

Burton, 48, was Lt. Cmdr. Geordi LaForge, the blind chief engineer of the star ship Enterprise on the television show Star Trek: The Next Generation . Older folks might remember him as the 19-year-old University of Southern California student who landed the role of Kunta Kinte in Alex Haley's miniseries Roots. To PBS fans, he is a great promoter of literacy and the longtime host and co-executive producer of the Emmy award-winning educational show, Reading Rainbow .

So how did he come visit Pine View?

Burton's appearance came courtesy of William and Vicki O'Donnell. The O'Donnells, whose son, James, a first-grader at Pine View, won the visit in August after placing the winning bid during a silent auction to raise money for the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation. The O'Donnells did not disclose the amount of their bid.

The foundation was created by the six surviving Mercury 7 astronauts in 1984 and provides college scholarships for students in the science or engineering field. To date, the foundation has awarded more than $2-million in scholarships.

The O'Donnells had a choice to have Burton come to their home or to John's school.

They opted to share.

James, who earned a front row seat and a ride in Burton's white stretch-limo, is definitely a Star Trek Fan. "He watches it all the time," said his sister, Shannon, 12.

His parents happen to be longtime fans of the space program. "Those are the heroes we grew up with," said Mrs. O'Donnell.

While Burton has made the occasional classroom appearance, it's usually only for close family members, such as his niece.

Still, he said, he was happy to support causes he believed in such as the scholarship fund and to promote reading.

"I grew up in a family where education was so important," Burton said. His mother was an English teacher who always read to Burton and his two sisters. "Reading to children is how it begins," he said. "You light that spark and fan it."

To the delight of some young space fans, Burton read the book Max Goes to the Moon , about a dog who howls at the moon and ends up realizing his dream to one day go there. He also read poems from Shel Silverstein's book, Where the Sidewalk Ends . "This is what we call a cautionary tale," said Burton before reading Silverstein's poe m Jimmy Jet and his T.V. Set .

Then he introduced the children to "one of my favorite books in the whole world." Mary Hoffman' s Amazing Grace , he said, "is about how you can be anything when you want when you grow up."

When he was done, there was some time left for a few questions from the audience.

The first from Ryan Cooper, "What's you phone number?" was well deflected.

"My wife will kill me if I give it out," he said.

The answer, "I'm 48," was met with a collective "Whoa!" from the children.

"Yes, I know," he said with a feigned grimace. "I'm older than your parents."

"Are you a movie star?" Karina Sihite wanted to know.

"In my own head," Burton replied with a smile.