'Kids see what they can become'; Mayor joins TTPKC, LINC in spreading joy of inclusive books
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas reads to children in the library at Whittier Elementary School Dec. 19. Photos by Ellen Auer
The man certainly looked sharp in his dark suit and festive red tie. But there had to be more explanation to why this visitor Thursday at Whittier Elementary School’s library was getting top billing over the more-recognizable Santa standing nearby.
One of the children, with his hand raised when time for questions came, had to get the answer:
“What do you do?”
A display in Whittier’s library shows examples of the new, inclusive books delivered to the school.
The answer can get a bit complex when you are the mayor of Kansas City.
At that moment, Quinton Lucas would say afterward, it didn’t really matter if the roomful of elementary children in Kansas City’s Northeast Neighborhood understood just what it meant when he answered, “I get to be the mayor!”
Lucas came to Whittier to join in Turn the Page KC and LINC’s distribution of 200 inclusive books to the school’s library through a grant with the non-profit organization First Book that overall is distributing $73,000 worth of books to Kansas City schools and families this school year.
This time, Lucas said, “I’m enjoying just being a guy who reads a lot, showing them that it’s a cool thing to do.”
There’s more to it, he knows. Having grown up without a male role model in his house, Lucas said, he understands that children need to see what’s possible in themselves. Whether or not they know what a mayor does, they can sense that this man before them is influential and important.
“It lets kids see what they can become,” Lucas said, “what they can be.”
That’s the mission of the First Book OMG Awards — Offering More Great Books to Spark Innovation. The campaign wants to energize reading in schools and homes with books that tell stories reflecting the diversity of Kansas City’s classrooms and neighborhoods.
And the mission is already hitting home, said Whittier Principal Phillena Layne, here in her school whose students represent 15 different countries and 19 different languages.
Earlier the school’s staff had pulled out and read one of the new books — All American Muslim Girl — by Nadine Jolie Courtney, to some students, Layne said.
The girls gasped and beamed, she said.
“They didn’t know that books existed with them as the main characters.”
In all, Turn the Page KC and LINC are distributing some 20,000 books in the Kansas City Public Schools and Hickman Mills School District — boosting school libraries and also sending books home with children to share with their families.
The effort is part of Turn the Page KC’s campaign to have all children in Kansas City reading at or above grade level by the third grade.
