This past Wednesday, 58 third graders at John F. Kennedy School received new dictionaries thanks to the dictionary project I'm participating in with local bloggers, PositiveDetroit.net and Operation: Kid Equip. The whole team (Jen Wright, Becks Davis, Lauren Weber, Erin Rose and Menachem Kniespeck) was there to witness the kids beam from ear to ear when we put the dictionaries in their hands. The kids showed their appreciation with plenty of "thank yous" and hugs. The principal called on a few students and asked them to share how they were feeling. Answers ranged from "special and loved" to "very happy and excited." A few of the third graders asked us questions about the dictionaries and our personal blogs. I was impressed that the kids knew what a blog is!
You can read more about the distribution and the dictionary project in this article in The Oakland Press. Becks Davis has more photos on her Flickr page.
I want to touch on something brought up in the comments in The Oakland Press article. A commenter expressed her discontent over Oakland County schools receiving the dictionaries because (1) it's one of the wealthiest counties in the nation and (2) the article has quotes referencing how we're helping "Detroit" (it's a known fact that people here frequently use "Detroit" to refer to southeast MI, and some native Detroiters are bothered by this).Menachem did a great job of setting the record straight in his comment. Oakland County may have been named one of the richest counties in the nation at one point, but many people don't realize that more than 50,000 students in Oakland County are on the free and reduced lunch program. Third graders in the Hazel Park School District are next up on the list to receive free dictionaries. More than 70 percent of those students receive free or reduced lunches. These statistics and others prove that poverty in Oakland County is no longer specific to the cities traditionally labeled as poor. You can find more info at on the Operation: Kid Equip site.
At the end of the day, all that really matters is the dictionary donations make students feel happy, cared for and loved. We don't know which ones belong to families who are struggling financially. We can only hope that this project will give the students more insight into the importance of knowing how to read and write well.
We still have a ways to go to reach our goal of giving dictionaries to roughly 2,700 third graders in Oakland County. With your continued support, we can make it happen. Donation details are included in my previous post, but ping me if you need more info. Thank you to everyone who has donated so far!
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4 comments:
Love it Nikki! Great job pointing out some of the Oakland County stats. These days, many families are in need across the Detroit region. At the end of the day it's not about giving something to a poor kid, it's about helping a child to realize they are worthy, no matter what their socioeconomical background is. :)
Love it Nikki! Great job pointing out some of the Oakland County stats. These days, many families are in need across the Detroit region. At the end of the day it's not about giving something to a poor kid, it's about helping a child to realize they are worthy, no matter what their socioeconomical background is. :)
Nikki,
Great post! So many people just assume Oakland County children don't need help, thank you for pointing us towards the statistics.
I think you said it perfectly, these kids felt loved and worthy.
Nikki,
I love that you tackled the suburb/city issue. You have such grace, which brings groups together rather than continuing the divide.
Such a pleasure getting to know you!
Jen
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