Usually when I volunteer to visit a Chicago Public School, a fellow volunteer drives us there. This Monday, though, Harper and I are taking a cab. “We’ll make sure there’s someone at the school waiting to meet you at the door,” the volunteer coordinator told me. “You don’t want to just get dropped off, not in that neighborhood.”
I gotta admit. Her warning scared me. And after I thought about it for a few seconds, my fear turned to sadness. If it’s not safe for Harper and me to step out of a cab in that neighborhood, can it possibly be safe for an eight-year-old to go to school there? Guess we’ll find that out when we meet the second-graders at Manierre School Monday.
Manierre is located right across from the Marshall Field Garden Apartments (a subsidized housing project) and is one of the Chicago Public Schools participating in the Sit Stay Read! (SSR) program I volunteer for. In order for a school to participate in Sit Stay Read!, 95 percent or more of the students enrolled must qualify for the National School Breakfast program. The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Center for Literacy helped Sit Stay Read! design the program to coordinate with school curriculum — it’s meant to improve children’s reading fluency, encourage them to become successful readers, inspire them to explore the world through books, and help them learn to respect people and animals. A Chicago Tribune story by Rick Kogan explains:
SSR’s mission is fueled by sad statistics: On average, a child growing up in a middle-class family will have the benefit of as many as 1,700 hours of one-on-one picture-book reading before he or she enters school, while the child in a low-income family will have 25 hours.
Sit Stay Read! uses dogs and volunteers in all sorts of clever ways: children read aloud to specially trained therapy dogs, human volunteers visit as “book buddies” to help individual kids, and people like me come as guest readers – the books we read to the kids always have something to do with, guess what? Dogs!
Guest readers also teach the kids about possible careers – when members of Chicago’s Lyric Opera visit, they read The Dog Who Sang at the Opera to the kids. Firefighters read Firehouse Dog during visits, and visiting police officers read about police dogs. I was asked to come with Harper and talk about being a writer. I hope my stories of learning new ways to read and write after losing my sight might encourage them to keep trying.
I’m looking forward to visiting Manierre Monday. It’ll be Harper’s first experience as a Sit Stay Read! dog, and I’m confident he’ll guide me safely from the cab to the school’s front door. Visiting other Sit Stay Read! schools with Hanni taught me there’s far more to these neighborhoods than gangs and crime. Kids live there, too. Thoughtful kids. Resourceful kids. Sweet kids.
Thanks to the generosity of my publisher--Blue Marlin Publications--all the kids in the Sit Stay Read programs Hanni and I visited the past few years went home with a free copy of "Hanni and Beth, Safe & Sound."
What an encouraging article! Encouraging on so many levels!
Your bravery encourages me to push forward more in my attempt to hurddle over the invisable barriers that, at times I put in my way of progress. Your shining example, warm personality and mighty spirt, will keep you safe and lead these new friends to a better place in their lives. Thank you Beth, for making a difference in all of our lives as we’re encouraged to make a difference for others.
Beth, I will be anxious to hear how your visit went. I have know and do know teachers who have taught in those schools, some great stories and obviously some sad ones.
Thanks for all you do!
Penn
Too bad NJ doesn’t have a similar program. It would be so beneficial to so many kids in my school district. Well, governor Chrisite, perhaps you should have some of the high paid individuals at the State Department of Education who don’t know the first thing about it take a look at programs like this instead of bashing teachers?
Beth, you are a treasure and the only real saint I will ever know.
I hope all the Gods of all faiths pick up on your goodness.
Ha! Love your comment, Jacques, but I know myself too well to think of myself as a saint. The *real* candidates for sainthood? People who knew me as a twerpy teenager and then stuck with me through all the life-altering events since then. Flo is on the top of that list, of course. But you and your daughters aren’t far behind!
For many of those kids, “Safe and Sound” may be their very first book, not counting books they have to give back, like textbooks and library books. Maybe you ain’t no saint—that would be boring—but you have done many, many mitzvot through “Sit, Stay, Read.”
How perceptive of you to realize that, “If it’s not safe for Harper and me to step out of a cab in that neighborhood, can it possibly be safe for an eight-year-old to go to school there?” Lucky that all of you—kids, dog and Beth—crossed paths. No question that lives have been changed for the better all around!
I’m honored you would consider this upcoming school visit a mitzvot. Or, when it’s singluar, is it a mitzvat?
Singular is mitzvah. Plural is mitzvot. Did that word come up in Epstein’s book? I wondered how you were doing without a glossary. I guess context is everything when it comes to definitions.
Just got back from visiting Manierre, all went well and the kids were great fun. While there, I learned that at the end of each year each and every 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grader at each participating “Sit Stay Read!” school gets to choose a book to take home for the summer. Plus each kid gets to choose *another* book to take home and give as a gift to a friend who is younger. You know, to encourage the little one to read just the way the “big kid” does. Talk about misvot! I just love this program.
decided to treat myself to Beth’s blog this morning. . .and what a great story! miss you, old friend.
I miss you, too, Siobhan. How flattering to hear you thik of reading this blog as a “treat.” Thanks for saying so, that makes me feel good!
Thanks so much for all you do for our SitStayRead kids, Beth. Your Guest Reader visits are always a favorite with students, teachers and volunteers!
Thank *you*, Mary Ellen, for running such a wonderfully well-thought-out program. The kids today were delightful, and the teachers were tremendous, too. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.
Guess you and your dog survived the trip. Wonder if the volunteer coordinator was exaggerating the danger, or were you right to be concerned? Whatever the answer, glad you made it and hope the kids had a fun time with you.
Wow. Another day of sharing your incredible spirit. Hope the day went well and wishing those kids well – what some great programs to help.
Hey I just found your blog through Bark magazine, I wanted to say that’s great that you volunteer with Sit Stay Read!
Thy are a great organization. My previous dog Ginger (Golden Retriever) was a Sit Stay Read dog for several years and we love their programs. She was also a therapy dog with Canine Therapy Corps for 7+ years.
I am hoping to get my current dog Bianca (Shepherd) qualified to volunteer with Sit Stay Read soon, I’m thinking of taking her to the next class/test coming up so wish us luck. 🙂
Another great organization in the area is Safe Humane Chicago.
What fun that you found my blog via The Bark. Even *more* fun to find out you’ve also volunteered for Sit Stay Read. I agree: a *great* organization.
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