Hug a Teacher
Today was the first of five visits I’ll be making to Harrison Hill Elementary as part of my participation with Real Men Read, one of United Way’s initiatives to close the 3rd grade reading gap. I did this last spring as well and decided to switch schools in order to be a little closer to home.
This is another case for me that highlights what you think you know vs. what the reality really is until you actually engage yourself. This new school highlights the unique challenges each school faces and even what each teacher faces in their individual classroom.
Third graders are a challenge no mater what school they are in. They are balls of energy that love guests and the idea of anything that can break the routine. This leads to the title of this post, Hug a Teacher. They need it, especially if they have kids coming from challenging home environments. I asked the kids if they like to read and half the class described reading as boring and not fun. The students that like to read shared about the adventures they get to go on and how much they enjoy the stories.
The book we read today was Harvesting Hope, The Story of Cesar Chavez
This a great book and I was excited to read to the students this inspiring book. It’s still inspiring today about what’s possible when you commit to fighting for Social Justice. It’s a book that hopefully teaches the students to fight with their mouths and minds and not with their fists. You can read the full description of the book by clicking the link about and scrolling down a little.
Real Men Read is an important step for me and the other 230 men in Fort Wayne as we make space to join an organized movement to use our presence to influence children. It’s reminds me how important it is for me to “choose" to be engaged and make important things priorities. There are opportunities to participate, just visit..
P.S…95% of the class is either going to be a horror movie character or a vampire for Halloween. What’s up with this?? Many of these students have seen movies with Jason, Chucky and the Saw Movies. Come on parents!
