Every politician, every editorialist, every educator, every Mom and Dad, rooms full talk about improving education. Why not stop talking and go do something about education? There are a few people who things that improve the education. Some like the many really “dedicated’ teachers, who get up early and work with the eager children hungry to learn, are the very best at it. Those are the ones who matter most. Notice I did not say “qualified”, I said dedicated. Qualifications are easy to buy. One cannot buy dedication to the job of helping others to find a path to a good life.

It was my absolute pleasure to volunteer to go read a book to some little ones in a public school kindergarten recently. These were little children growing up in families from by and large low income households. Maybe 85% need the nutritious meal that gets served each day at school. At the moment though these little faces were not hungry for food, they wanted some fun. Every one was eager and smiling, some had apprehensions about a strange man with gray hair appearing suddenly in their classroom, but most were poised for some fun.

When I asked them all “Who wants to help read a book?”, you should have seen the hands go up. Eager is really the word that keeps coming to mind.

The school principal introduced me by name and handed me the book she had chosen for me to read. It was a Halloween themed book written by Linda Williams. The cover was one the children recognized based on ther smiles and a comment or two.

I read loudly the title; “The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything”. Clearly they knew the book.

The story was about that lady’s walk through the forest and with each turn she came upon some thing every little child knows. First came a pair of boots. She passed quickly, unafraid. Behind her came a “clomp, clomp” of those boots stepping at her same pace. She was unafraid. Then came some empty pants. Then came a shirt. Then more, until she came upon a pumpkin. You guessed that.

For me the reader, it took a minute to realize how to engage my listeners in the story. We began to make the noises and body motions of the ‘things’ following along. We all said and stomped CLOMP-CLOMP with the boots. We wiggled in the pants. Shook in our shirts………It became a Partridge in a Pear Tree fest with each encounter.

Then came a few secret tears. As I rose from the floor to leave, a number of them came to me, wrapped their arms around my leg and hugged me. Many said “Thank you for reading to us”.