The School’s on Fire!

by Karen Leggett Abouraya

How often do we think of fire drills as a nuisance that interrupts a lesson or a nice break to get everyone outside for a few minutes? Even though the kids at Our Lady of the Angels School in Chicago, Illinois, had dutifully marched out in fire drills, their school lacked the safety measures that might have saved them in a tragic 1958 fire. Ninety-two children and 3 teachers died in the fire. Although it was not the worst school fire ever, it did lead to dramatic improvements in fire prevention measures in schools.

“This can’t be happening,” (remembered thirteen-year-old Michele Barale.) “Schools don’t burn down. Who ever heard of a school burning down?”

Rebecca C. Jones knew about a school that did indeed burn down in Chicago and wanted to learn the real story behind it. She conducted dramatic interviews with 26 survivors who shared their memories and experiences, classroom by classroom.

“The neighbors’ ladders were far too short to reach the second-floor windows, so some kids began jumping to the alley.”

In one classroom, a back door to the school’s only fire escape was always kept locked. 

“Sister Geraldita normally kept the key to the back door on a key ring attached to her belt…She had forgotten to bring (her keys) to school that day….10-year old Matty Plovanich watched his teacher. ‘I will never forget the look on her face,” he says. “It was complete panic and anguish.”

Jones provides a riveting account of children and teachers responding to a very immediate danger. As the subtitle says, there was bravery, tragedy and determination. There are also opportunities for young writers today to reflect on various reactions to a dangerous situation and how they can prepare themselves to think quickly in an emergency. The very real story of this tragic fire could even open the door to difficult conversations about current dangers in schools and communities.

·       What might you have done in Sister Geraldita’s situation when you did not have keys to open the door to the fire escape?

·       Teachers tried different approaches to keeping their students calm.  What do you think you might do to calm younger children in an emergency in the school, on the school bus or on the playground?

·       Tragedy affected every child and family connected to Our Lady of the Angels School. What are some examples of bravery and determination? 

o   What does it mean to be brave?

o   Do you remember a time when you have been brave?

·       After classes were back in session, some teachers did not want anyone to talk about the fire ever again. Do you think that was a good idea?

·       Do you have an escape plan if there is a fire in your home? Describe a conversation at home about what each family member should do during any type of emergency.

·       Survey the fire prevention measures that exist in your school. Are there things that aren’t working, like some doors and rules at Our Ladies of the Angels? What can you do about something you think is not working as it should?

In December, there will be special programs in Chicago to commemorate the 60^th anniversary of the fire.  A new school was built on the site in 1960 with state-of-the-art sprinklers, smoke detectors, fire doors and fire-resistant stairwells; the school closed permanently in 1999.  More information about the fire is available at olafire.com 

School Library Journal concluded that “this moving narrative of one of the most devastating school fires in U.S. history is recommended for middle school nonfiction collections.”

WHAT LIES IN OUR MEMORIES?

by Jane Harrington

Just returned from a writing extravaganza in Ireland—part retreat in the remote reaches of the island, part bustling residency at Dublin’s Trinity College. In the conversations with the myriad writers I got to know over the weeks, there was a recurring theme that has followed me back across the Atlantic and sits with me now at my writing desk. Many of these Irish writers (all well established in Europe and some highly acclaimed here in the States, as well) told stories of being afraid to write as children. Insecurity, guilt, shame—all of these feelings seemed to be seated in a childhood belief that if they wrote creatively or fantastically about their lives, families, friends, they were somehow telling lies. Mostly fiction writers, these talented wordsmiths were adults before they came to realize that good writing naturally springs from the everyday, and they wish they’d allowed the young versions of themselves more freedom to explore the boundaries between life and art.

It was with pangs of understanding that I listened to their regrets, because I, too, quashed my urge to write when I was a child, and for the same reasons. What utterly wasted time, I think now, my most successful fiction having been forged from the “real” stuff that filled the days of my own children’s lives. My first novel for kids, Lucy’s Completely Cool and Totally True E-Journal, was strongly based on our family’s experience having my mother-in-law with Alzheimer’s disease come live with us, and that book sold 150,000 copies in Scholastic Book Fairs and generated a great fan buzz when it came out in 2001. (Now out of print, you can get it for pennies at Amazon or BN, if interested.)

So, I’d like to share a few memory exercises that might help some young writers gain confidence in using their own real-life stories as ore for imagining the deeper truths that, well, lie in fiction. (Aren’t words fun?!)

1.     Describe in detail a room in your family’s home. Include every bit of furniture, every picture on the walls. Then have a visitor arrive from another planet.

2.     Write a memory of your favorite relative, only imagine her/him in the form of your favorite animal.

3.     Step into a scene where a friend or sibling is in your kitchen, laughing. What has happened? What is going to happen?

4.     Quickly list all the people you can think of who like to wear hats, and describe the hats.

5.     Among your friends, who has hands or feet you really like? Explain what it is you like about those hands or feet.

6.     Open your refrigerator and study what is in there for a minute. Then close the door and try to describe every item you remember, including details about the shapes and colors of the packaging. (Don’t peek! If you can’t recall something, make it up!) Now have the foods interact behind the closed door.

www.janeharrington.com

MEMORY QUILTS

by Joan Waites

My last blog post described an elementary school artist-in-residence program I participated in, working with fourth grade classes. After finishing with the fourth grades, I began working with each of the fifth grades. Our assignment was to make a class art quilt, illustrating the students special memories from their time spent at the school.

We began with a planning session, brainstorming ideas and doing rough sketches. Students were asked to pick one larger element to showcase, so it could be seen from a distance. Smaller details or designs were added to the background. For example, several students chose to draw the musical instrument they played in the band, adding musical notes in the background. Other students drew themselves wearing their patrol badge, chose an element representing the school fair, or drew portraits of themselves and their best friend.

Because a sewn quilt was a bit too complex a task to accomplish during our allotted time, (and beyond my capabilities), we assembled the art quilts using painted fabric squares, using the following supplies:

1.     Precut squares of fabric in a neutral color, approximately 8X8 inches, one per student.

2.     Any liquid type of acrylic paint-inexpensive craft acrylic paint works well.

3.     Large piece of patterned background fabric, measured to accommodate as many squares made per class.

4.     Old broom handle, curtain rod or even a varnished and sealed branch to hang the quilt.

5.     Paintbrushes, paper cups for water, paper plates to mix paint, paper towels and plastic trash bags to protect desks. Fabric glue to assemble all parts. For embellishments: black sharpie paint pens, ribbon, buttons, beads or other elements that can be glued on to fabric.

After the paint fully dried, students outlined their paintings using a black Sharpie paint pen. Beads, buttons or other embellishments were glued on top of painted squares. Squares were then glued in rows to the large patterned background fabric. Each square was then framed using strips of ribbon. Mismatched ribbon pieces add a lot of colorful interest! Most of the supplies were donated by parents as well as contributions from the PTA. We used some colorful sheets for the background fabric, and students brought in beads, ribbon etc., from home, keeping our costs down.

A similar project could also be done as a writing exercise, using squares of colored or patterned paper glued to a larger background piece. Have students write a paragraph or two about their fondest school memories, or challenge them to write these in poetic form.

The completed quilts will be hung and displayed first at the fifth grade graduation, then moved for permanent installation in the new school, sharing their memories with many more students in years to come.

www.joanwaites.com