Mapleheightspress.com - Young and old meet at Stafford amid smiles, cards, literature

by Tim Troglen

Reporter

Maple Heights -- Books can help pave a path to both education and adventure for children.

In order to make that path a little smoother, members of the Maple Heights Chapter of the American Association of Retired People showed up at Stafford Elementary School April 23 and gave the gift of hard-bound books to each of the 23 students in Susan Jaroscak's fourth-grade class.

The presentation was part of the annual day of service which AARP members participate in each year.

"It was really special," said Jaroscak.

The students were each given their own copy of "No Talking," a newly released story by Andrew Clements, a favorite author of the class, she said.

Jaroscak, who was named 2007 Maple Heights Teacher of the Year, said, "Clements writes about a lot of things that have to do with school, and the kids really like him."

She said the book is "just coming out in print and really hard to find."

"I was very happy to get a new book plus I read a lot of his books," said Tre'shon Dizard, 10, a member of Jaroscak's class. "They are very interesting and so I think this will be OK."

Tre'shon said the book has already become part of his collection of favorite books.

"I have a shelf that I put my favorite books on," he said. "He is a great author."

Tre'shon's classmate, Tamara Smith, said her book would also become part of her collection.

"I've got a lot of books. I love reading," Tamara, 10, said. "I was so excited and happy. I could not wait to read it."

Tamara added that she is "practically on chapter four."

Audrey Thomas, one of the AARP members who organized the event, said, "I'm so pleased this turned out nice."

Thomas said 10 members were on hand to help present the books and visit with the students.

She said club members usually take part in a community service project each year for service day. However, Thomas, a former Cleveland school teacher, said she wanted to do something different this year.

Another member of the group, Mildred Habusta, attends church with Jaroscak. After kicking around a few ideas, the group decided to buy and present the books to Jaroscak's class.

Thomas took up a collection from members at two meetings which raised more than enough to purchase the $140 worth of books.

"People at the AARP group were very generous," Thomas said.

She added that several members donated enough money for a whole book to be purchased.

"I bought the books and had the teachers fill them out," Thomas said.

On the day of the event, each child's name was called and he or she received a book.

"I wanted to have a presentation so when they took the books home, they would always remember that this was extra special," Thomas said. "My thought was that every child should have their very own book with their name, and maybe it would inspire some to go home and start a home library."

Thomas said she was "inspired" to read a book her aunt gave her more than 70 year ago.

"I still have it," she said of the book titled "The Muffin Man." "It means so much to me."

And it wasn't just the AARP members giving that day. The students each made pop-up thank you cards which were presented to the group.

"The children all wrote little thank you notes in the cards," Habusta said. "And we are going to display them on the stage at our next meeting. It was so cute."

Tamara said her fellow students were happy to meet the AARP members and share a few moments and smiles.

"They really enjoyed them," she said of the cards. "We didn't even want to give them away because they were so perfect."

Tamara said her friends were "excited to see the people."

"They didn't want to leave, they wanted to stay," she said.

Jaroscak, who grew up in Maple Heights, said, "It was a wonderful feeling" to see her students receive the books and interact with the AARP members.

"I was so proud," she said. "Sometimes people have an image of school children which is not always the best."

Both Thomas and Habusta said they were touched by the children and their manners, friendliness and appreciativeness.

"All my life I've read books," Thomas said. "And if we can touch just one child in this class and teach them to like a book, it was worth it."

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