Most Awesome Homemade Journal EVER

Sometime last year after I started working at a middle school The Cuban asked me about the different programs we have in place. He’s very civic minded, that one, and he was really asking about how he can get involved. As a public school servant that character trait just comes with the job, but people who don’t work there it can be an extremely rewarding experience if they can give up the time to do it. In truth, he was a little irritated with me that I didn’t immediately tell him about a program our district has called Real Men Read where men from the community come in once a month and read with a classroom. A man is paired up with a teacher and there have been donations of class sets of books that he is to read before getting to talk to the students. The Cuban brought home seven books from the RMR coordinator along with a name tag for each time he visits (I so wish he would write “The Cuban” on them, but he doesn’t) (the students would NOT get that joke). Each RMR volunteer is given a Mentor Guide brochure with each book that tells about the book and gives them suggesting for reading and book discussion questions.

This is one of my favorite programs ever. Real Men Read is powerful and he is loving it to bits. Before he went in to introduce Christopher Paul Curtis’ book The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963 he picked my brain for hours on how to get students interested in reading and what would be okay to mention during his hour-long visit. He previews the books by reading them (he’s a reader, by God, he’s a reader!) but, of course, he had no experience with teaching. This is especially funny since in his family he is the only non-educator. His sister is a teacher, his brother is a principal, and his mom was a teacher assistant before she retired last year. The Cuban’s dad is a minister and, by all accounts, this qualifies him as a teacher. Not my Cuban. He went into the business world and the military, but after joining this program I am convinced there is a teacher’s heart lurking beneath all that manly Cubanness.

He was assigned to a 6th grade classroom of the absolute more adorable little creatures God ever did make. They’re so cute and eager to learn that it makes my face hurt. Each month that he comes in to volunteer an hour in the classroom we gush over their cuteness. It’s really nice to hear him say, “I see why you do this. I get it.” When he accompanies me to basketball games or volleyball games or any kind of school activity now the kids are extra excited to see him. To be fair, he always supports me in my work and never questions my time spent on school-related stuff.

Yesterday at work, the classroom teacher came up to me and said, “Can you give this to The Cuban? My students made it for him for Christmas to thank him for his time.” She handed me the most beautiful homemade journal I have ever seen. I cried before I even opened it up to read it because I knew she and the students put in some time to make it.

Pretty, yes? Awesome, yes? YES.

Our school library has a lot of old books that are out of circulation and we just can’t seem to throw them away. WE THINK THAT’S A SIN and it hurts our souls to get rid of books. But some of them are so torn up and in bad shape that Mrs. R takes them from the storage room and remakes them into personal journals. First, she slices off the binding to get the pages loose and then adds in several matching blank pages of paper. Then, she drills three holes near the binding so she can add these very inexpensive ring binders to hold it back together. What’s really cool about this is that she doesn’t throw the entire book pages out. She saves a chapter or two and puts them back into the journal so there’s something to read. For this project she gave each of her students in the Real Men Read classroom a piece of the blank paper and they wrote The Cuban thank you notes about coming into the classroom. Finally, she decorates the cover with markers, paint, and sparkly things to make it pretty. Boy, oh boy, is it pretty.

This is part of the book “The Golden Goose” that she left in the journal.

Last night when I came home and handed it to him I was more excited to watch his face as he read their adorable little notes of thanks to him than I was the first time I read them. (Of course I read them first. I had this magical journal in my hands and couldn’t stop reading!) I’m probably not supposed to mention this but I’m sure I saw some watery substance form in the corner of his eye and he smiled the entire time he read them and just kept saying “Wow” over and over. If they had done handwritten individual thank you notes I’m sure they’d end up in a box somewhere only to be taken out on occasion. But this journal is sitting on our mantle and will forever stay in sight.

Dear Mr. Cuban, Thank you for being our real men read man. It has been fun having you every month. One way you have impackted my life is when I get those books. I love reading more and more with each book I get every month. Thank you again for every thing.

What an awesome Christmas gift. What a superb idea for repurposing old books. What a great program Real Men Read is for students.

What a lucky woman I am for getting to witness it all.