This is Diversity Week at Pine Bush Elementary School! On Monday special guest readers were welcomed into classrooms to read some wonderful books to our students. District personnel, local officials and police officers took their turns reading books about being different.
Superintendent Brian Dunn stopped by Lori Malara’s kindergarten class to read “Isabel and Her Colores Go to School.” The book is about a little girl who speaks Spanish and is entering a new school . She is learning new ways to communicate as well as making new friends.
Pine Bush Elementary School secretary Pam Fanning read “What’s the Difference? Being Different is Amazing” to Shannon Stack’s pre-K class. And that’s the message to young readers. While being different is amazing, celebrating what we have in common is important too.
Officer Geraghty was in Demitra Bowen’s class reading “My Brother Charlie” to her second graders. The book is written from the point of view of Charlie’s sister. Charlie has autism and his brain works differently. He may have difficulties making friends or expressing himself with words, but there are so many amazing things he can do!
Town of Crawford Supervisor Charlie Carnes read for Dina DiNoto’s third-graders. His book was “Just Ask!: Be Different, Be Brave, Be You” by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. In this book, kids are encouraged to look at being different as something beautiful, like the different flowers in a garden. Children with different challenges work together to create a community garden, asking questions of each other. That’s how we learn – Just ask!
Some fifth-grade students got to meet their future principal and assistant principal as Stephen Wilder and Chris Mummery from Crispell read Emmanuel’s Dream. This is the true story of a boy from Ghana in Africa who was born with one deformed leg. His mom taught him to always reach for his dreams, no matter what anyone else thinks. He has continued to do that, working on behalf of disabled people, celebrating those who triumph over adversity.
The students loved having the guests in their classrooms. Some were familiar faces from the building like Principal Eric Winter, Assistant Principal Jenn Fitzgerald, and Ms. Fanning and Ms. Betty from the front office. Others were faces not as familiar but became familiar before the reading ended.