Today I sat in a teacher's room listening to children sort b's from g's, and pigs from bibs, all under the encouraging eye of a reading tutor. I watched a multi-purpose room take on countless purposes and, shortly after noon, absorb the ninth graders of Philadelphia's KIPP DuBois Collegiate Academy. I listened to Kyle Zimmer, president and co-founder of First Book, as she told stories about the revolution that book ownership yields; listened to the mayor of my city compare books to passports; listened as one sponsor after another made promises they plan to keep about literacy, education, and tomorrow. And then I watched as
Dangerous Neighbors made its way into the hands of those KIPP ninth graders, stewards of our future, all. There were so many people who made today happen, and key among them is a young lawyer named Heather Steinmiler, who seems to do many things in many ways on behalf of the children of Philadelphia.
My dear friend Jan Suzanne Shaeffer was in the room today, and it is because of her that I have these photos to share. I looked out, saw her sunny face, and took calm from it as I stepped up to the microphone.
Gratitudes.
It is the children, always the children, who give me hope. The ones I've met in gardens, who shared their poems with me. The ones who read Kipling out loud, so loud, that the story became a song. The ones who extended my own vocabulary by giving me elements of theirs.
And so it is a tremendous honor to be asked to join Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter; Lehigh Valley County Executive Don Cunningham; First Book President and CEO Kyle Zimmer; KIPP Philadelphia Charter School CEO Marc Mannella; and Host Committee Chair Heather A. Steinmiller, among others, for a celebration of the good that books can do in children's lives.
First Book, which was mentioned in this recent
New York Times Magazine story, was founded nearly twenty years ago by a corporate lawyer who tutored children at a soup kitchen by night—a lawyer who came to believe that books were critical to the health of families, and of nations, and who has, in the intervening years, overseen an organization that has delivered more than 70 million books to programs serving children in need.
KIPP Philadelphia Schools is a network of charter schools born of a nationwide system known as Knowledge is Power Program. The event, which will take place at 1209 Vine Street this coming Wednesday, October 27, at 12:30 p.m., at the location of the KIPP Philadelphia Elementary Academy/KIPP Dubois Collegiate Academy, will kick off the Third Annual Book Bash, which will be held in New York on December 10, during the Pennsylvania Society Weekend.
I've been invited to talk a little bit about
Dangerous Neighbors, a book that all 108 ninth graders will be given during the event. You can't imagine how happy that makes me—to be part of a day in the life of a brand new school, talking about a city I love, talking about once and talking about tomorrow. I thank Laura Geringer, Egmont USA, and the good people at First Book for all the convergence that has made this possible.
What an exciting day, Beth. You got to be inspired as you, also, inspired. Wonderful reciprocity.
Beth in a LBD! match made in heaven!