Today my daughter’s school is taking part in Mix it Up at Lunch Day, “to build on the momentum of change created by the election of Barack Obama as the first black president of the United States, and to show our commitment to providing an inclusive learning environment for all students.”
“Mix It Up at Lunch Day” is the flagship event of Mix it Up, a nationwide project that encourages K-12 students to identify, question and cross social boundaries within their schools and communities. “This year, the day has a special significance,” says Mix It Up Director, Samantha Elliott Briggs, “because students across America, inspired by the presidential election’s result, are excited about doing their part to tear down the walls that divide us.”
10,000 schools are expected to participate this year. To know that millions of students across the U.S. are reaching out to others and looking for ways to be more inclusive is not only awe-inspiring, but downright amazing! The beauty and power of “Mix It Up at Lunch Day” is that it highlights the importance of inclusive learning environments with a very simple call to action. A call to action that reminds students of the riches to be gained from stepping out of their comfort zones and reaching out to someone outside their usual social sphere— a simple action that has the potential to build bridges, foster understanding and form friendships that wouldn’t be built, fostered or formed otherwise.
Participating students are encouraged to share stories about their experiences with “Mix It Up Day” and to read the stories of others
‘. And for those interested in submitting essays for a chance to be published, here’s a
list of themes.
Great things happen when we mix. Please share your story so we can all learn from it!
Tonight I read Shin-chi’s Canoe by Nicola Campbell, illustrated by Kim LaFave to my daughter. The story is a follow-up to Campbell’s earlier book Shi-shi-etko which narrates the story of a young aboriginal girl, Shi-shi-etko, as she is separated from her family at the age of six to attend a residential school. In Shin-chi’s Canoe, Campbell returns to the same family but now it is time for Shi-shi-etko’s brother, Shin-chi to go to the same school with his sister. Shin-chi is given a little carved canoe as a parting gift from his father and the boat will serve as a reminder during the cold cruel months ahead of a request Shin-chi has made of his father: namely, to build a dugout canoe for him when he returns home at the beginning of summer.
When this book arrived at our house, my daughter was immediately taken by it. She and her classmates were all building boats to be launched at a nearby creek. Can I show this book to my teacher? She asked right away. But we haven’t read it yet, I said. We’ll read it tonight, I promise. At bedtime we curled up into bed and read Shin-Chi’s Canoe. My daughter remained silent through the reading and at the end, she made a comment that struck me. While I concentrated mostly on the social injustice of the aboriginal residential school experience, my daughter remembered instead the request Shin-chi made of his father, namely, the promise that he would have his own canoe by the end of that first year away at school. See, his Daddy’s making the canoe just like Shin-chi asked, my daughter said. Quite frankly, caught up as I was with the bigger social issue presented by the book, I had forgotten that simple request. I was amazed and humbled by my daughter’s observation. Truly, children have their own unique perspective. That is why reading to them at bedtime can be so hugely rewarding.
Incidentally, November is National American Indian Heritage Month in the United States. The story of Shin-chi and Shi-shi-etko is a great way to start educating young people about the history of aboriginal childrens lives in North America.
If sunlight and warmth have hit the almost-polar regions of the Pacific Northwest, then it must be summer everywhere in this hemisphere–time for lemonade, picnics, beaches, long days spent outdoors, and lots and lots of books!
Summer reading is its own special category of literature–it’s the time of year when we remember that books are instruments of delight and amusement. It’s also the time of year when so many other things compete for our time and attention that reading sometimes is put aside until autumn and the required reading lists roll around.
When The Papertigers blog first began, Corinne had a wonderful post that discussed summer reading programs presented by libraries (which, Marjorie told us, also takes place in England under the wonderful name of “reading schemes.” Wouldn’t you rather scheme than take part in a program?) and said that she and her children celebrated the end of school by going to their library, signing up for the reading program, and going home laden with books. What a splendid way to mark the beginning of summer!
Of course not everyone lives near a library that offers such a program–I certainly didn’t when I was a child–or perhaps a crowded schedule of sports, summer camp, and family vacations prevent participation in a library program. For these people, we invite you to make The Tiger’s Choice your summer reading program. It fits into any schedule since you can comment when you are ready, on your computer, at any time of the day or night. It welcomes readers of all ages who love children’s literature, so you can discuss books with your friends, your parents, or even your teacher! It’s also a great way for youth group leaders to supplement their own summer activities with discussions about books, or for educators to stay in touch with their students.
If the monthly selections don’t appeal to you, tell us what you are reading on your own and why you like it–you may help someone else to find a new favorite author. (This is what happened to kids who responded to our Asking the Kids questionnaire–Geronimo Stilton and Young James Bond now have new readers.)
We’ll keep track of your suggestions and comments–when the end of August comes around we hope all of us will have found new books to love and new ways at looking at old favorites. Please join us!
And please add your comments to our discussion of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, which will end as June draws to a close.
After a decade of work, on February 4th Oxford University Press and the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute will publish the African American National Biography(AANB). The AANB is the largest repository of black life stories ever assembled with more than 4,000 biographies. To celebrate this monumental achievement we have invited the contributors to this 8 volume set to share some of their knowledge with the OUPBlog. Over the next couple of months we will have the honor of sharing their thoughts, reflections and opinions with you.
To kick things off we have AANB contributor Dr. Marybeth Gasman, an Assistant Professor of Higher Education at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Gasman’s has published several books, including Charles S. Johnson: Leadership beyond the Veil in the Age of Jim Crow, Supporting Alma Mater: Successful Strategies for Securing Funds from Black College Alumni, and Uplifting a People: African American Philanthropy and Education. In addition to these works, Dr. Gasman recently finished a book entitled Envisioning Black Colleges: A History of the United Negro College Fund (Johns Hopkins University Press). Recently Dr. Gasman was awarded the Promising Scholar/Early Career Award by the Association for the Study of Higher Education for her body of scholarship. In the article below Gasman looks at criticism of Historically Black Colleges.
Public discussions of Black colleges’ troubles are often distorted by the tendency to attribute one institution’s shortcomings to the entire group. Furthermore, I have noticed that critics often base their critique on anecdote rather than evidence. As someone who works with and studies Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) on a daily basis, I find this practice to be deeply troubling. Let me offer a few examples. (more…)
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