~and that's where you come in~

One of my most vivid memories of early childhood is that of having popcorn for lunch on Saturdays back at the old farm in the Sandhill country of Harvey County, Kansas.  Without fail, each Saturday for the longest of times my mother would whip up a huge batch of salted and buttery popcorn for all 7 of us kids to enjoy.  We'd all stand there wide-eyed and watch her pour it into the old metal milk pan.  I can still remember that scrumptious taste and the savory smell it made while it was popping.  It was always a treat for the taste buds!

Once I asked my mom when I had children of my own, why it was that she always made it for us on Saturdays.  For some reason it always struck me odd that the 7 of us kids got a treat that was normally reserved for other times of the day.  I remember the look on her face when she explained the "popcorn for Saturday lunch" ritual to me with a voice that I can still hear now many years after she has been gone.

"I always fixed popcorn for lunch because that's usually all we had left to eat in the house.  It was enough to feed all 7 of you until your dad got home with his Saturday paycheck, and then we could go to town to buy groceries on Sunday.  We were poor."

My mom's explanation was an eye opener to me, for I had absolutely no idea back then or as an adult later on that we were kids from a poor family.  My father was a farmer and drove the milk truck for the TipTop Dairy out of Moundridge, Kansas.  We had a solid roof overhead and all of us kids were clean and dressed neatly.  The school bus always came to pick us up and we would get on it for a day of learning in town.  But the truth was that our folks had to work hard to make their money stretch, and undoubtedly in those early days of my youth times must have been extremely lean.  Hey, I just thought everyone was like us. Later on the times would get better, and they would move us to Haven where their hard work would finally pay off as they opened up their business called "Scott's Cafe and Service".

I have never forgotten my humble upbringing back there upon the Kansas prairie.  As a teacher now for well over 40 years, I have seen children throughout this great land of ours whose families are struggling much like the Scott family did back now many years ago.  I have seen parents make huge sacrifices in order that their children can have a chance in this life.  I've seen teachers and support staff at whatever school I was teaching at dip into their own bank accounts to pay for a child's lunch, take care of the registration to be on a summer baseball team, or put a present from Santa under the Christmas tree.  I've seen churches all over the place, from Kansas to Colorado, to Texas and beyond to Oklahoma, help folks with utility bills and money for gas to drive back and forth to work.  Through it all, it surely does pay to remember something quite important.

"The truth is always that any of us are just a paycheck away from hard times."

And if it was humbling to grow up in a home where there wasn't a lot of cash flow, then it is even more humbling to be able to pay it forward on behalf of a child today.  Mike and I have grown to love the community where I teach.  Grandfield, Oklahoma is just up the road a ways from here on the Texas side of the Red River.  Each morning for the past two years, I've loaded up the car in the early morning darkness and made the 15 mile journey across the bridge and into Oklahoma.  As the second grade teacher at the elementary school, I've had the wonderful opportunity to meet some of the finest families around.  Their children have come through my classroom doorway and called me "teacher".  I shall be leaving them in the weeks that lie ahead when we move to our new home in Newkirk.  I will miss them sorely and have the desire to do something for them all before I go.

And that's where you come in.

I want to leave the kids at Grandfield a special place where they can come after school, on the weekends, or even during the summer months to find a free book to take home and read.  The "little library" concept has been a teaching tool that I have used now for nearly 5 years to promote the love of reading.  I have a special one in my classroom that will soon be placed right outside of our elementary building.  Long after I am gone, it will be my hope that kids will keep on reading.  We will be in need of gently used books of all reading levels in order to keep it going in the months and years that lie ahead.  

If you are reading this and have books at home that are no longer read or needed, would you consider donating them to our school for this very worthy cause?

I wish I had the money to do more for them but since I haven't won the lottery yet, there is no slush fund around with my name on it.  I am an Oklahoma school teacher who knows the power that being a good reader can bring.  The child whose small hand reaches in to choose a book from the little library may well be the doctor who saves your life in the future.  It could be the hand of the mechanic who works on your car when it breaks down and you are stranded along the roadway.  A book might be chosen that would inspire someone to become a nurse, a teacher, a chef at a restaurant, or the next governor of the state of Oklahoma.  

The possibilities are endless.  

I hope the supply of available books is as well.

If you have books you would like to donate, you can email me until mid-May at  the following address.  Thank you for your consideration in helping us!

prenfro@grandfield.k12.ok.us

Theirs are the faces of voracious readers.

I love them all so very much.  Once I was a little kid, just like them.