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Sherry Stewart shares her love of reading with a young student.
The Joy Of Reading
Friends of MacDowell help nurture
literacy at their former school.
Stacy Gittleman | Contributing Writer
A
ll her life, Sherry Stewart, 68,
of Bloomfield Hills has been
true to her school.
Growing up in Northwest Detroit,
Stewart attended MacDowell
Elementary School in a “happy, stable”
era, when the school served as the core
of this diverse middle-class neighbor-
hood, when kids walked to school with
brown-bagged lunches and every mom
on the block knew who you were.
A longtime member of one book club
or another over the years and a sub-
stitute teacher in the Bloomfield Hills
School District, Stewart said she owes
her love of literacy and reading to her
school days at MacDowell.
In that spirit of loyalty and the desire
to give back to her alma mater, Stewart,
in 2002, spearheaded Friends of Mac-
Dowell, a group of dedicated alumni
who come to the school each week to
help nurture a love for reading and lit-
erature among its current students.
The volunteer group has been one
piece of stability in a school that has
seen its share of turmoil. Stewart said
the building is not in the same physical
shape as it was when she was a student.
Sometimes the heat does not work and
the school is closed. There have been
eight different principals in 14 years.
In 2009, when Detroit Public Schools
placed the school on the closure list,
Friends of MacDowell fought hard to
keep it open.
In 2012, DPS relinquished admin-
istration of the school to SABIS
Educational Systems Inc., a charter
school corporation. Through all the
changes, Stewart and her fellow vol-
unteers have adapted and done their
best to meet the needs of the changing
administrators and educators, all the
while trying to serve the students to the
best of their abilities.
“No matter the changes, from differ-
ent principals to different teachers, the
classroom volunteers are always shown
a great amount of appreciation,” Stewart
said.
Friends of MacDowell started after
Stewart and some classmates reunited
15 years ago and brainstormed ways to
help their faltering school. Since then,
they work with teachers in the class-
room or take children out of the class
in small groups to read and work on
literacy projects such as creating books.
They work on phonics skills with the
younger grades and spelling, reading
comprehension and more advanced
literacy projects such as book making
with older children. Over the years,
Stewart also organized visiting authors
and book collection drives.
Reflecting on the current crisis in
DPS, Stewart said that MacDowell, still
in a relatively stable neighborhood, “is
one of the few lucky ones.”
Still, Stewart remarked there remain
struggles with high turnover rates for
teachers, but she does see the school is
improving in its charter status.
No matter who is in charge, Stewart
said she and her fellow alumni tutors
always enjoy being with the children
and sharing memories of their own
school days at MacDowell.
“The kids really get a kick when
some of us point to houses across the
street from the school, and we tell them
that we or our grandparents used to live
there,” said Stewart, 68.
Stewart said she is always looking for
volunteers to join her. Those interested
in giving their time can email her at
hste157045@aol.com.
Mind University is a new cognitive wellness
initiative offering health and wellness workshops,
family support, and Mind Aerobics, an innovative,
evidence-based program to help adults maintain
or strengthen their brain function.
Mind Aerobics, developed by the
New England Cognitive Center, stimulates
six major functions of the brain:
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Reaction time
Visual/spatial relations
Attention and concentration
Memory
Language
Problem solving
Classes are organized by cognitive level;
each level has 24 sessions held over 12 weeks.
For more information,
please contact the Jewish Family Service
Resource Center at 248-592-2313.
Funded by
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February 18 • 2016
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