When it comes to the Chicago Public School system, one often hears more negative than positive, but here's something the system is getting right: the "Real Men Read" program.
Once a month, black male firefighters, clergy, community leaders and doctors volunteer their time by going to schools and reading aloud to the children. Of his experience, one volunteer said:
"I think it's important for kids to have somebody that looks like them do something positive."
While another said:
"[It's important to] have black males come in to the class and read to them, if they don't have that example anywhere else."
The program was developed in order to improve kids' reading skills while exposing them to black men who value education. Nicholson Technology Academy Principal Rodney Hall says that for some of these students, they are experiencing this for the first time:
"For many of our kids, it's the first time that they are having a male role model read to them."
While very little about public schools in urban areas gets celebrated, many kudos to the Chicago school system for finding a simple yet creative way to impact our children.
Watch the program here: