1. Wally the Whale Kelsie Nagle 041 - UF 200 –Margaret Sass
Introduction
Methods
Community Partner
I made my book, Wally the Whale Finds Friends, on Storyjumper and I used the pictures and the backgrounds that Storyjumper provides to create my book. When making my book I thought long and hard about what diversity meant to me. I knew that I wanted to do something with animals because I liked the idea of animals of different classes coexisting together. I also thought children would better appreciate a story about animals. Ultimately, I decided to show a mammal that’s feared by species both on land and in water, a shark, befriend a gentile giant, a whale. I wanted children to see that its important to give everyone a chance and they shouldn’t listen to any of the preconceived notions that they might have. People, and animals, can surprise you.
Name: Bells for Books
Mission Statement:
To ensure that every child in Garden City has access to library books.
Purpose /Need:
Bells for Books works to provide children that maybe do not have access to a library or maybe they can not access a library safely, with several books that are donated by the community. Bells for Books works with the Garden City Library to improve child education in more rural areas.
This assignment brought us out of the classroom, it helped us apply what we have been learning all semester to the real world. It helped me become aware of community needs and what I can do to be of service. Not only was able to create something that I can be proud of, but now I can use it to benefit the children of Garden City.
Reflection
Before this assignment I never thought much about the lack of access to education that children that are less fortunate children have. I was lucky enough to be raised in an upper middle class setting. I didn’t have to worry about my education, I had unlimited resources around me. During the course of this assignment I saw how excited kids were to be able to get new books; a privilege that I have taken advantage of my whole life. Honestly, I kind of scoffed at this assignment until it came time to read my book on the bus. It really opened my eyes to the importance of reading. Reading expands minds, it exposes you to grammar and sentence structure, and it brings you to new worlds and opens your imagination. Reading is important at any age, but especially when you are young. I am currently working on a degree in Elementary Education. If there is anything that I have learned in the course of my degree it is that children must be read to and they must be read to often. I hope to continue getting involved in programs such as this, even after I finish my professional year. My story will never be a top seller, but I hope it teaches the children of Garden City something positive.
Impact on Community
Importance of Ethics
Personally, I believe in having a virtuous ethical philosophy. I believe that we should strive to be of worthy character and moral standings. If we succeed and our character is just, we should allow it to govern our day to day actions. I think that it’s important to be kind, nurturing, and accepting; if we strive to make this part of our character we can live virtuous lives. I think this trait is important when being an active member of society because it a life governed by morally ideal traits. It is not solely reliant on the ideals of a culture, it is a set of universally accepted and celebrated character traits. We were asked to write books that highlighted cultural acceptance. I believe that virtue ethics reinforce this lesson. At the end of the day, cultural acceptance is about loving your fellow man and showing kindness to everyone around. Traits that someone with virtuous ethics should have no problem implementing in their daily life.
Direct Impact:
I had about ten kids jump on the bus eager to hear my story. I wrote one story and I read for about ten minutes. They were then able to ask me questions and it gave me the opportunity to talk about my ethics and the message my book was trying to convey: cultural acceptance.
Indirect Impact:
My contribution helped add another book to the Bells for Books collection. The Bells for Book bus is run purely through donations. By donating I help ensure that the bus is able to stay in the community longer. Not only are kids receiving an endless stream of age appropriate books, but they are receiving books that have positive messages. They can now work on applying those messages out in their community.