People
Buttons, Buttons, They Have the Buttons

Buttons and good wishes from around the world poured into this Nebraska classroom.

In 1996, Teresa Morrison’s second grade class at McAndrew Elementary in Nebraska set out to collect a million buttons. Morrison and her students soon found themselves on a heartwarming adventure.

“Many people love buttons,” says Morrison. “When they give them away, the fondness comes through. A pop tab just can’t do that for you.”

Her students wrote letters to newspapers across the country. In quick order, buttons of all sizes and shapes started arriving in the mail. There were buttons made of bone, glass, and even antlers, much to her students’ delight.

The millionth button, which was in the shape of a white unicorn, arrived in December.

Fourth grader Leslie Graves, pictured at right with teacher Teresa Morrison, brought the unicorn button in from her aunt, who donated more than 4,000 buttons to the project.

On January 20, all of the students who participated in the project gathered at McAndrew Elementary to celebrate their success and to express their gratitude to all the button donors.

The project, Morrison believes, will have a long-lasting impact on student learning. Through their effort, students improved everything from their writing skills to their knowledge about geography and history.

Morrison has concentrated on a different skill every year since the project started.

“This year,” says Morrison, “students learned about the color wheel and how to describe all the button colors.”

Morrison’s classes also filled five scrapbooks with letters from the button contributors.

“Because we live in Alaska,” wrote one contributor, “I thought you needed a moose button. We have moose walk through our yard.”

“We learned many lessons from the project,” sums up Morrison. “One of them is that people want to help kids reach their goals. I now fully understand the quote, ‘Live for the journey, not the destination.’”

When Wild Dreams Come True

“If you could go anywhere in the United States, where would it be?” Teri Lindner asked her special needs students at State College Area High School in Pennsylvania nine years ago. The students’ answer: Walt Disney World in Florida.

A trip to Disney World then seemed like an impossible, wild dream. But those students worked hard to realize that dream. They raised enough money to take the trip and, in the process, became known as the Wild Dream Team.

Today, Lindner, along with paraeducators Sharon Pearson and Pam Jimeson, continues to help the Wild Dream Team reach high goals in life.

Among the team’s successes: LifeLink, an apartment-based program that helps special education students make the transition to independence. LifeLink has been featured on national television and presented at conferences around Pennsylvania.

“I think what sets this apart from other special education classes is that the students set a lot of the curriculum themselves,” says Lindner. “They’re acquiring skills that lead to greater independence.”

Lindner will return to Walt Disney World once again this summer—as Disney’s 1999 Outstanding Teacher of the Year. That honor came, in November, with a $25,000 award that Lindner has shared with her colleagues Pearson and Jimeson. Her school district received $10,000. She and her principal will use this year’s Disney trip to explore creative practices in teaching and learning at the Disney Institute of Learning and Professional Development.

“In our classroom, we know that we can reach for the moon and the stars,” says Lindner, pictured, inset, with Disney CEO Michael Eisner. “Our history has shown us that, once in a while, wild dreams do come true.”

Crowning Achievements

Rhonda Henderson Simmons wears more hats than just the Mrs. Nevada International crown she won in October 1999. This counselor at Bruner and Neal Elementary Schools in Las Vegas is helping 16 African-American students build self-esteem and learn how to dance all at the same time.

Three years ago, Henderson Simmons founded Sistahs In the Spirit, a dance group that entertains in the local community. On Saturdays, she currently helps seven- to 14-year-old “at-risk” girls learn how to perform a variety of Caribbean and African dances.

The dance classes are free and there are no auditions.

“Dancing comes naturally to many students,” she says. “If you find what their natural talent is, that talent can open many doors.”

Henderson Simmons is also motivating minority students from 10 Las Vegas middle schools to stay in school through a volunteer speaking program.

“I tell them,” she says, “there’s no excuse for saying ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I don’t care.’ You need to expound on the beauty in you.”

In 1996, Henderson Simmons traveled to Ethiopia to train new teachers as part of the Teach for Africa program. She credits her longstanding interest in community service and education to the influence of her parents.

“My father was big on education,” Henderson Simmons explains. “I was raised in an era where community service is not just for you, it’s for your culture.”

A Piece of History

William Munn, an American studies teacher at Marion (Indiana) High School, and his students have found a lot of American history right in their community, thanks to a $40,000 grant from the Kellogg Foundation in 1997.

Using computers and other resources purchased with a portion of the grant money, local students have been learning about their community’s history by interviewing local residents, collecting letters, diaries, and old photographs, and designing an award-winning Web site.

All this work recently produced the group’s second volume of Marion County area oral histories, titled Rough Times.

“I don’t want my students learning from textbooks,” says Munn. “Learning from primary texts allows my students to think critically without the need for an interpreter.”

Munn had to first teach himself the rules of the oral history game.

“I wasn’t taught how to conduct interviews, design Web pages, or publish a book,” says Munn. “So I was forced outside the traditional boundaries to learn what I wanted to teach.”

Munn’s students work hard to make their work available to people of all ages.

“My students don’t have it easy,” says Munn. “With a term paper and oral presentation, they’re learning the necessary academic skills to succeed.”

Munn’s project has unearthed a treasure trove of fascinating local history, from local Native American lore to tales of Titanic survivors. To see Marion’s piece of history, go to www.marion.lib.in.us/history/index.htm.

Caring Beyond the Classroom Better Childhood

Michael Terrell knew he had to do something fast in 1984, after he found out that one of his first grade students was staying home because she had only two sets of clothes and both were dirty. Terrell’s solution? The Cochran Christmas project. Named after his school in Kentucky, the effort has raised $2 million over the past 15 years to buy clothing and other necessities for local students.

Each year, Terrell, now in his 27th year of teaching, writes local businesses requesting donations of clothing, toys, candy, games, and dollars.

“We’re all in this education business together,” Terrell explains. “Not just teachers, parents, and administrators, but businesses as well.”

One local philanthropist, Richard Williams, has donated $50,000 to the project.

For the past six years Terrell has also produced a newsletter called Parent-Share. Filled with child-rearing tips, ParentShare is combined with a literacy program that partners magazine publishers with underprivileged families. Terrell distributes 250 donated magazines to students so they can practice reading, learn about current events, and research school assignments at home.

“There aren’t a lot of jobs or money in the community,” Terrell points out. “The parents can’t afford these luxuries,” he says.

Terrell was chosen for USA Today’s first-team All-American Teacher Team, one of only 20 teachers nationwide selected for the honor.