Greg Mortenson

Students in Elmwood Park Community Unit District 401 gained broader perspective on the lesson of hope and outreach after reading a book selected as part of a new community book club.

Called “United We Read,” the Elmwood Park Public Library and the Village of Elmwood Park partnered with the school district on the reading club project.

“This is the first year for the program,” Jason Stuhlmann, head of Elmwood Park Library’s youth services said. “We felt this would be a good way to bring the community together.”

The entire District 401 community has the opportunity to read a specially selected book and share their thoughts with everyone else in the community book club.

The book selection this year is New York Times Best Seller, Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations, One School at a Time, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin.

The idea is to involve people of all ages through books that are available in several versions including audio.

Three Cups of Tea is available in picture book version for children in grades kindergarten through fourth grade, a version for intermediate levels, and a Spanish language version.

“The book has a great message and it exposes readers to a different country and culture,” Stuhlmann said.

The book tells the true story of Mortenson’s journey to K2, the world’s second tallest mountain. While climbing, Mortenson became lost and ill and somehow made his way into a Pakistani village where he was sheltered and cared for.

As repayment, Mortenson built the village a school and created the nonprofit Central Asia Institute, which has built 90 schools for 34,000 impoverished children in rural Pakistan and Afghanistan.

English teacher Erica Hanrahan’s sophomore honors class recently gathered to share their impressions of the book. She said reading and discussing Three Cups of Tea with her honors sophomore English class was a very enriching experience for both her students and herself.

“A world and culture that was seemingly dangerous and distant became friendly and intimate,” Hanrahan said. “This is the type of lesson that promotes the importance of every single human being and his or her ability to change the world.”

Student Ade Maron said reading Three Cups of Tea was an enjoyable experience.

“Hearing Greg’s story made me realize that one person can make a huge difference if he tries,” Maron said. “That kind of strength and determination can be found in all of us. When I sat down to read this, nothing could stop me. It is a great read for all ages.”

Another student, Trisha Wojcik, hopes the book affects the whole community the same way it affected her.

“Greg is really a hero and he made many lives entirely better just by building one school at a time,” she said. “I hope I can accomplish something huge like that in my lifetime.”

Ashley Delgado said, “It may take a million steps to climb a mountain, but it only took one heart and one idea to change a million children’s lives.”

(c) Pioneer Local 2009

http://www.pioneerlocal.com/elmwoodpark/news/1952161,elmwood-park-read-122109-s1.article