Hilliard Reading Connection

Location: Hilliard Apartments

Date: Saturday, August 24, 2013; 10:50 am-12:30 pm

One of my favorite things to do on Saturday mornings is to attend a Chicago Cares children’s program at a school.  However, with schools being closed for the summer holidays, there weren’t many kids programs, but this was one of the few that were still on the calendar.  I took the bus and arrived at the location to find our Volunteer Leader Sulynne was already present, along with two other volunteers.  We had all assembled in a common room of one of the buildings that constitutes this community.  She told us that this was a low-income residence for multicultural families, which made this unique children’s program, since I have never attended a children’s project at their residence site.  She said that sometimes very few children show up and there are days when we do not get any.  Well, we certainly did not want that outcome today!

In case the children did show up, we were going to be reading a book, ‘Max Found Two Sticks’, followed by us making ‘Paper Plate Shakers’ and ‘Paper Bag Marakas’.  Now, I had never heard of the latter, but guessed that it was a musical instrument, consistent with the theme presented in the book, of a boy finding two sticks and then drumming away on all surfaces.  Sulynne had come armed with several new copies of the book and it would really be a shame if no kids came.  While we waited, I discussed volunteer experiences with the others, including the annual events.  It was getting late and just when we thought that we would be leaving without the kid’s participating, we had two children show up – a brother sister duo – Florence and Jacob.

Our book for today

As we introduced ourselves, we learned that both the kids liked playing music, with Jacob playing the piano and Florence the guitar.  She even said that she has decorated her guitar by putting stickers all over it.  Jacob paired with me to read the book and we picked up our copy of ‘Max Found Two Sticks’ and retired to a different part of the room.  Jacob is a very shy boy and so I did most of the reading, but ensuring that every now and then he repeated a few things and stayed involved.  I said to him that he was not dissimilar from Max in the book since both of them were quiet boys and both liked to play music.  Speaking of music, it was time we started doing some of the crafts work and Jacob said that he wanted to make the ‘Paper Plate Shaker’.  It appeared to be an easy thing to make where you take two paper plates, decorate the outsides, fill them with some beans and then seal using staplers.  Now you have something that makes noise when shaken.  Jacob started by decorating his plate and his love of piano was evident when he drew the piano keys.  He said he likes Green and Black colors, though Red and Blue were included in his picture.  Florence on the other hand, likes purple and was making the ‘Paper Bag Marakas’ with purple decorations. Then she made the plate shaker and put purple streamers all around it, making it quite clear what her favorite color was!

Jacob's two "instruments" attached together

Soon we were joined by 3 other kids – Jimmy and his younger twin siblings, Sammy and Ewan. Sulynne was not going to let them play till they had read, and so while they went off with other volunteers, Jacob and I made the ‘Marakas Bag’.  He then had a creative inspiration and wanted to put both of his instruments together.  He was trying to use the stapler to attach them, but was clearly struggling due to the poor quality of the staples.  However when I offered to help him he refused, saying he wanted to do it himself.  The other kids had finished their reading session and joined us at the crafts table.  Jimmy was making a Ghanaian flag on his plate and I learned that all the kids were of Ghanaian decent.  Jimmy is a very thoughtful person and I took a liking to him.  He told me that he likes playing drums and considering Florence's and Jacob’s musical skills, I told him that all the kids there should form a band.  He is an excellent older brother and likes taking care of his twin siblings.  He said that it takes away from some of the other things that he likes doing such as playing baseball, fancying himself as a pitcher.  He said that he likes both Cubs and White Sox, which was a first for me to find someone who like them both!  He said that he really wants to pitch next year and needs to find time to practice.  He sounded like any other kid his age until he told me how last summer their summer camp trip couldn’t go to the Navy Pier because of lack of money.  It is important to remember how important our mentoring session is for kids like these, who may not have an access to a simple thing like going to Navy Pier - something that I take for granted. 

Soon all of the instruments had been made and we had an impromptu concert with all the kids and their projects – well it was more of a racket, but nobody seemed to mind, not least me.  It was time to leave and Ewan left me his plate shaker.  Before he left I asked Jimmy to teach me something in Ghanaian or ‘Twi’ language.  He mentioned a word, which he said was “Hello” and smiled as we struggled to repeat. I walked back home thinking about this program and the wonderful kids that I had met.  It’s amazing how I continue to get surprised every day.  I would have thought when I woke up today that a group of Ghanaian immigrant kids with a talent for music would teach me something – and I don’t just mean saying “Hello” in ‘Twi’.

*All the client's names have been changed in order to respect their privacy