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March 10, 2009
Mutual Social Responsibility – A Ground Floor Perspective
I spent this weekend moving endless boxes of books at the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City. Lest you think that I need a second job to supplement my income, I was volunteering for Project Cicero, a local nonprofit that collects gently used children's books from the families of independent, parochial and public schools so that teachers from under-served New York City public schools can bring them back to their classrooms. More than 175,000 volumes were collected in this, the ninth year of the initiative. The program is organized by a nineteen woman board; they spend the year accumulating books, often in their own cars, borrowing storage space in basements or using closets at home as staging areas (this is the story at my apartment—my wife, Roz, is one of the nineteen).
The scene at the hotel is reminiscent of Grand Central Station during rush hour, as a hundred teachers at a time are allowed into the grand ballroom to rummage through the books displayed by topic (science/math, history, early reader). They have 30 minutes to grab armfuls of books, then stuff them into rolling suitcases. The teachers are largely young and tend to be female. They are incredibly grateful to Project Cicero for the opportunity to improve the classroom experience. Some of them are from Teach for America, which selects among the best and brightest of college graduates for a two year stint in public school teaching.
During my infrequent breaks (I was a lifter, the lowest form of labor—perfect antidote to any form of pampering for CEOs!), I had an opportunity to chat with a few of the teachers. I found them universally optimistic about their ability to make a difference in the lives of their students. They felt empowered to push for excellence. They acknowledged the resource constraints in the system, in particular large class size and absence of technology. But they are determined to find a way, to instill a love of learning. Their spirit inspires me, reinforcing my conviction that there is no more important job than teaching and that the world can be improved, one child at a time. The program was featured on Fox Business news this morning and you can view the coverage here.
This is my first effort at video blogging. Be gentle with your critique.
Local teacher shopping for books for students
Laureine Greenbaum, Co-Chair of Project Cicero
Local teacher shopping for books for students
Posted by Edelman at March 10, 2009 2:47 PM |
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