Good Food + Good Reading + Good Health = A Better You!
Lightbearer Gala May 3, 2007
Sharon Draper Author Event & Workshop
Culminating Workshop, May 2007
Highlights from Good Food + Good Reading + Good Health = A Better You! On August 4, 2007
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Teacher Chinyere Conley leads a group of young festival-goers in a reading game. |
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State Senator Mattie Hunter used a golf cart to visit booths during the large festival. |
A Great Day for |
Each summer, IPL hosts their Off the page Reading Festival. According to Open Book Program founder Marrice Coverson, the purpose of the Festival is to encourage an interest and love for reading among youth and their parents and to expose youth to children's book authors, poets and other masters of the written and spoken word. Children and their parents also got a chance to visit Open Book Literacy Village, which featured activities like: Learn how to create your own book; Classes on writing poetry, lyrics & short stories; Reading games; Meet famous writers; Fairy Tale Jeopardy; Story Tellers. |
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A boy receives a backpack filled with free back-to-school supplies. |
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A community resident gets his blood pressure checked. |
the Open Book Program on May 3, 2007
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Lester N. Coney, Executive Vice President, Mesirow Financial, Zoraida Sambolin, Anchor for NBC-Channel 5, Frances Odem, Senior Advisor, Williams Multiplex, and Louanner Peters, Deputy Governor-Illinois were year’s honorees at the Lightbearer benefit for the Institute for Positive Living’s Open Book Program on May 3, 2007 at Marmon Grand Ballroom, 2230 S. Michigan Ave., in Chicago. The Lightbearer event, themed “Making Dreams Come True,” featured performances by Open Book students and by Open Book performing artists and teachers. “The Institute for Positive Living's Open Book Program is proud to honor these three outstanding individuals who share the belief that children should be encouraged to enjoy the art of reading,” states Institute for Positive Living President Marrice Coverson. “Our honorees and their respective organizations are among those who support the Open Book Program's efforts to encourage the development of reading, writing, and critical thinking skills.” The Open Book Program is a multi-faceted after-school program for young adolescents. The Program engages youth in activities that encourage development of their reading, writing and critical thinking skills. Open Book is currently funded in nine Chicago public schools: Beethoven, Johns Academy, Mayo, McCorkle, Oglesby, Price, White Career Academy, Williams Multiplex, and University of Chicago-Donoghue. In addition Open Book and the Institute of Positive Living has developed a variety of programs for residents of Lawless Gardens. Co-chairs for this year’s Lightbearer gala are: Rev. Bobby Rush (US Congressman); Illinois State Senator Mattie Hunter; Illinois State Representative Ken Dunkin; Illinois State Representative Elga Jeffries; Sandy Benen, Glaxo Smith Klein; Calvin Butler, RR Donnelly; Elzie Higginbottom, Eastlake Management; Paul & Joan Rubschlager, Ruschlager Baking Co.; Timothy Wright, Gonzales, Saggio & Harlan; and David E. Whittaker, Chicago Area Project. Special thanks for this year’s event go to Dominick’s Shorebank, Chicagoland Foods, Marmon Grand Ballroom, Union beverage Co., D. Williams Public Relations Group, A Work of Art Florist, Soul Deliciious Catering, Artist/Illustrator Jane Spivey Gilchrist, Joyeux Designs, Montgomery Media Enterprises, and gala committee members and volunteers Jarrod Hunter, Janis McReynolds and the entire Institute for Positive Living staff and volunteers. Past Lightbearer honorees have included: Alderman Shirley E. Coleman, 16th Ward, Former Senate Minority Leader, Emil Jones; David Whittaker, Executive Director, Chicago Area Project; Frank Gihan, Director of Community Relations, Chicago Tribune Charities,. the Church of The Spirit, Daryl Handy, former Director of External Affairs, Ameritech; Elzie Higginbottom, CEO/President, East Lake Management; Ralph Hughes, Regional Director, Marshall Fields State Street; John Clark, President/CEO, Reggio’s Pizza; Wallace E. Goode, City of Chicago’s Empowerment Zone; Susan Levy, R.R. Donnelley and Sons; Doug Mabie, Springboard Foundation; Darryl Newell, President, 100 Black Men of Chicago; Hosea Sanders, ABC-7 Chicago; Jan Spivey Gilchrist, Author and Illustrator; Phillip Nyden, Professor of Sociology and Director of Urban Research and Learning, Loyola University Chicago, Joe Moore, Manager, Community Relations, Shell Oil, Frederick McNeal Jr., Principal of Mayo Elementary School, Merri Dee, Director of Community Relations, WGN-TV, Wynona Redmond, Pubic Relations Manager for Dominick's Finer Foods, State Senator Mattie Hunter, Lee Brown, former Area Instructional Officer for the Chicago Public School System and Tommy Ford, children's book author and actor. “We are grateful to the many people who continue to make the Lightbearer Benefit a memorable evening,” states Coverson. “As our attendance continues to grow, we thank our friends and supporters, as well as the local media who help us tell our story. Mostly, we thank the youth who participate in the Open Book program, celebrating reading and children’s literacy every day.” |
Author Sharon Draper to Open Book Students: “Your job is to tell the next generation to stand tall…”
| Students from Vernon Johns Academy act out a scene from Copper Sun during an Open Book Author Event with Sharon Draper on March 17, 2007 at Johns Academy 6936 S. Hermitage, in Chicago. |
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Students from Oglesby Elementary School, 7646 South Green, act out a scene from Copper Sun. |
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Teachers from Mayo Elementary School, 249 E. 37th St., are pictured with Author/Master Educator Sharon Draper during the Teachers Training Workshop. |
Critically-Acclaimed Author Meets with Teachers and Students, March 16 & 17, 2007 during Workshop and Book Signing/Performance Events |
More than 200 African American inner city students, aged 9 – 14, listened intently as critically-acclaimed Author Sharon Draper shared the story of how her book Copper Sun came to be written during an Open Book Author Event on Saturday, March 17, 2007, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. at Johns Academy, 6936 S. Hermitage, in Chicago. Copper Sun, inspired by a Draper’s trip to Ghana, isa story about 15-year-old Amari, a girl who has only one thing left—hope—after she being stolen from her village and sold to the highest bidder. “You have to know that people did this for you,” said Draper. “someone got beat for trying to learn to read. You are responsible for standing tall and being proud. Your job is to tell the next generation to stand tall and be proud of what they are.” The Author Event was one of two Open Book events featuring Draper. On March 16th, more than 30 teachers participated in a workshop with Draper who is also a master educator. Draper stressed the value of using a backdoor approach to inspire learning. In one exercise, for example, Draper used various pieces of classical music and asked teachers to think about what colors they hear and what part of a movie you would put the music in if you were a producer. One of the highlights of the Author Event were the student performances based on either on Copper Sun or Ziggy and the Black Dinosaurs Book 2: Lost in the Tunnel of Time. Performances were given by Open Book participants from Lawless Gardens and several elementary schools including Beethoven, Johns Academy, Mayo, McCorkle, Oglesby, Price, White Career Academy, Williams Multiplex, and University of Chicago-Donoghue. The Open Book Program focuses on stimulating interest in reading quality, culturally relevant children's literature through a variety of activities including literary circles, drama, and Internet experiences. During each program segment, participants do an in-depth study of one or two books. Authors and author/illustrators have included Sandra Belton, Ashley Bryan, Debbi Chocolate, Sharon Flake, Jan Spivey Gilchrist, Nikki Grimes, Harriette Gillem Robinet, Charles R. Smith, Jr., Glennette Tilley Turner, Darwin MacBeth Walton, Walter Dean Myers, and Camille Yarbrough. “Author interaction is a key ingredient in the success of the Open Book Program,” states founder Marrice Coverson, president of the Institute for Positive Living and executive director of Open Book. “The talk-show format gives students the opportunity to interact with one another and to experience the books through the dramatic productions that each school has prepared.” For information on the Student/Author event or the Open Book Program, contact Marrice Coverson at 924-9802. Information about Open Book including examples of student work can be obtained on the World Wide Web at www.openbookprogram.org. |
Workshop Plus Some Fun Wrap Up
Open Book Program for 2006/2007
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Teachers and performing artists from Williams Multiplex and Mayo participate in the end-of-the-school-year assessment workshop sponsored by the Institute for Positive Living’s Open Book Program. |
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Teachers and performing artists from the Institute for Positive Living’s Open Book Program participated in an assessment workshop, followed by food and fun on May 22, 2007 at Room 43, 1039 E. 43rd St. in Chicago. The assessment workshop, conducted by professional facilitator Yvonne Jeffers, focused on achievements and challenges of the current year. It also focused on solutions that will help Open Book improve. The Open Book Program is a multi-faceted after-school program for young adolescents that inspires the love of reading. The teachers and artists participating in the workshop came from Open Book Program Chicago Public School sites at Beethoven, Mayo, McCorkle, Oglesby, Price, White Career Academy, Williams Multiplex, and University of Chicago-Donoghue; and from the Open Book/Lawless Gardens site. High points of the Open Book Program this school year included Improved communication skills, excitement about performing and expressing themselves, interacting with artists and authors, learning from their mistakes, being eager to read—and also encouraging their non-Open Book peers to read. The workshop was followed by a buffet dinner and karaoke performances. |
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