4.02.2003

 

I'm getting my chance to do my good deed for the month of April this week.

An aquaintance of mine teaches grade school (second grade, I think, but I might not remember that correctly) in a predominantly Hispanic area. As I understand, her entire class speaks Spanish, and as such, she has really had to improve her Spanish skills. Recently her class read a book entitled "Flat Steven" about a boy whose bulletin board falls on top of him during the night, flattening him.At first, Steven is sad at this turn of events, but when he learns he can do new things not possible before, his mood changes. At one point, he folds himself into an envelope and sends himself to California to experience new adventures.

It seems this girl's class has decided to make flat Stevens of their own, calling them Esteban plano, and putting them in the mail to their friends and family for new and exciting adventures. The class has asked the recipients of an Esteban to take him around with them for a week, documenting their adventures, before returning Esteban, perhaps with a letter and some photos, to the class so that they can learn about new areas and the adventures that Flat Steven enjoyed.

Anyway, one girl in my friend's class has no family or friends to whom she could send her Flat Steven for an adventure. So my friend called me up and asked me if I would help out and take an Esteban plano around with me and write a letter in Spanish to my adopted second-grader once our adventures reach their terminus.

I'm privileged to do so, and I hope people who happen to see me taking pictures with a paper doll this week don't laugh at me too much.

First stop: beer darts tonight. Oh the adventures we will have.