St. Charles man, learning begins at home
If he hasn't spent a lifetime proclaiming the value of a family teaching and learning within the home, then William Russell of St. Charles has at least spent the better part of the last three decades doing so.
Russell, who penned a book and series of newspaper columns titled "Family Learning," as well as the "Classics to Read Aloud" book, has found the perfect backdrop to share his passion for helping families create a solid foundation based on learning.
That backdrop is Faith Christian Academy, at 1745 Kaneville Road in Geneva, where Russell teaches and serves as assistant director. In that role, he created the Families Learning Through Faith program that will feature a segment open to the public from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday at the school called "Reading Aloud Builds Better Students, Schools and Families."
"I spent more than 15 years beating the drum for the idea that family-centered, out-of-school learning was the key to in-school success," Russell said. "This was the subject of my doctoral study at NIU, and the research was continuing to show that the most powerful predictor of success in school was not income or race, or education of parents, or even the quality of the school itself.
"Rather, it was the activities that took place in the home as part of everyday family life."
Russell searched for the perfect place to share this research, but he said he could not find "a single education official at the federal, state, county, or district level that would even consider encouraging family-centered, out-of-school learning."
"But then I found Faith Christian Academy, and I found an administration and staff that had a 25-year history of working with parents and joining them in the common goal of helping students succeed in school and in life," Russell said. "As you can probably tell, I am excited about finally discovering this hidden gem right here in the Fox Valley. It has been a long and difficult search, but the discovery was well worth the effort, and now I want everyone to discover it, too."
An 'October' twist: The recent rumblings in St. Charles about certain aspects of the movie "October Sky" being unsuitable as a science class teaching tool for young children because of some language and sexual innuendo made me think about this film again.
That movie was a favorite in our home when released in theaters in 1999. We purchased it as a VHS tape, wore it out, and eventually bought the DVD.
Our son and his friends, just going into middle school at that time, enjoyed the story about the "Rocket Boys" in a coal-mining village showing an interest in rocket science after the flight of Sputnik in 1957. The main character, Homer Hickman, eventually goes to work at NASA.
It could be debated that a grade-school kid shouldn't see some of this film, but I wouldn't rule it out. They're seeing much worse stuff on TV fairly consistently.
The positives far outweigh the negatives, including something that can stick with a kid a long time - the musical score by Mark Isham. We still have that theme song on our downloaded CDs and iPods, and I believe it helped fuel an interest in music for some kids at that time. It's good to debate the content of movies, but don't forget about the other aspects that can have positive effects.
Donate for gas: As the price of gas starts to slowly rise again, any offer to possibly lessen the blow to your pocketbook is worth noting.
The Heartland Blood Centers are celebrating National Blood Donor Month by enticing donors with the opportunity to be part of a raffle offering five $100 gas cards every day this month for those who donate blood.
Heartland reminds us that 600 donors are needed daily to meet the demands of the area.
Those in the Tri-Cities area interested in donating blood and a chance at $100 worth of gas, can do so from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jan. 25 at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Batavia, or from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday at John Stewart Elementary in Elburn (to schedule an appointment, call Cindy at 630-365-3568), or from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at Kaneland High School.
A unique hill: As adults, we may moan and groan about the snow and cold. I know I do quite often. But we have something in this area that no one else has - the sledding hill by the windmill in Fabyan Forest Preserve. Hundreds of kids were having the time of their lives on that hill after last weekend's heavy snow. Sure the ridiculous cold set in later in the week to keep most of us huddled indoors, but the hill was sure to be back in full use when temperatures came up a bit.
dheun@sbcglobal.net