Educator Misty Eidson becomes driving force for community “book bus”

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Every teacher worries about the summer slide students experience during the summer months when kids are on vacation. “The research shows that if students have access to 12–15 books over the summer, the loss of learning over the two-month break can be minimized or even overcome,” asserts Misty Eidson. She’s a third grade teacher in the Mustang Valley Elementary School in Mustang, Oklahoma. To give her students access to those books during summer vacation, this enterprising educator became the “driving force” behind her district’s initiation of a book bus.

Misty approached her supervisors at the district office with her innovative idea for roving book mobile. That’s when she discovered that they owned a bus that was scheduled to be retired from regular service. Unfortunately, there was no budget to refurbish the vehicle. That didn’t stop Misty. She and a group of cohorts persuaded a maintenance crew to remodel the inside and build shelves to hold the books. They asked the Advanced Placement art students to paint designs to decorate the exterior of the bus. Then they solicited donations of books to fill the shelves. “Once people heard about it, books just started pouring in,” Misty recalled. “Our community really came together for this project.”

The Mustang Public School District where Misty teaches covers an area of nearly 70 miles. Nevertheless, the book bus makes the rounds throughout the community twice a week. The bus is especially careful to visit areas that aren’t located near a public library. “A lot of our kids aren’t within five miles of a public library,” Misty observes. “Having access to books is a need in our community. It’s a need in a lot of communities.”

To learn more about this amazing chalkboard champion, click on this link to go to the full story, which can be found on the We Are Teachers website.

Football coaches teach their players life lessons during “Manly Mondays”

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Two football coaches, Cody Gross and Steve Carter, from Athens High School in Athens, Alabama, are helping their players learn what they consider to be essential skills on how to be a man. The coaches conduct weekly lessons on topics ranging from how to give a firm handshake, how to tie a tie, how to change a tire, and how to make jewelry for their moms. They have dubbed these weekly sessions “Manly Mondays.”

Coach Carter describes the importance of these weekly lessons. “A lot of kids these days don’t have father figures,” he observes. “They don’t have people to show them things. I was blessed with a father that showed me how to do a lot of stuff.” Coach Gross agrees. “The big thing is, as coaches, we can have a big impact on young men,” Coach Gross explained. “That’s why I do what I do. When (last) season ended, I felt the need to be more intentional about some things we do. We try to model the behaviors we expect.”

To learn more about these amazing coaches, read the article here (written by Mark Heim and published online by Alabama Media Group). You can also watch the short YouTube video below, originally published by WAAYTV.com:

Contemplating the nature of the “soup school”

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While I was in the process of conducting research for my first book Chalkboard Champions, I learned about many types of schools that I had never heard about in the 36 years of my career as a professional educator. Industrial schools, emancipation schools, freedom schools, farm schools, normal schools. Where were all these terms when I went through student teaching? I was particularly intrigued by the concept of the “soup school.” What was that all about, I wondered?

I learned that a “soup school” was an institution established during periods of pronounced immigration to our country. Their purpose was to provide assistance to immigrant children as they struggled to assimilate within a new, dominant culture. Often times these schools were founded by charitable organizations or missionary societies. Because of the population served by a “soup school,” it makes sense that these institutions were located primarily near areas of immigrant entry. New York City, for example. The main curriculum in these facilities was instruction in the English language, basic literacy skills, and indoctrination to the American culture. Apparently, the school got its name from the fact that at noontime a bowl of soup was served to the students, a free meal which would have been most welcome to the poorest of immigrants.

In contemplating this practice, I’m wondering if our nation’s free lunch program would be considered a modern version of the “soup school”?

You can read more about soup schools in my book Chalkboard Champions, available on amazon.