You can be a star just being who you are
Written by Leatrice Cooper
Don Schmitz & Grandkidsandme

How many grandchildren do you have? I have about 250 children who call me "Grandma Lee" at the Andover Elementary School in Andover, Minnesota. 

I volunteer as a Foster Grandparent guiding children in whatever way the teachers request. The Foster Grandparent Program is a well-organized, dedicated and workable program through Lutheran Social Services.

Drawing on skills learned in Toastmasters, I stumbled on to the idea of developing a pseudo toastmasters club. At the Andover School, I found two teachers willing to take a risk and help me develop a speaking program called, You can be a star, just by being who who you are. 

We started the program with three students in the fifth grade. It was much like the story of "The Three Bears;" one talked too much, one talked too little and the other one was just right. The one who talked too much had been convinced by some well-meaning adult that he did not have to learn to write legibly. He would be able to go through his life using a computer he believed. The three students learned the techniques and taught other children until we had sixty-fifth graders participating. They learned to speak with conviction, give positive feedback and summarize the information in the allotted time. 

From there, it was one step to creating a talk show program. We debated the war in Iraq, the explosion of the space shuttle, the differences between all political parties and how to invest our money. We even wrote letters to Governor Pawlenty protesting the cut in the budget of the Foster Grandparent program.

One student wrote, "How do you dare take the foster grandparent away from us? How do you dare to take Grandma Lee away from us? Don't you know she has taught us to speak in a powerful way and that we count, even though, we are kids? Please do not let this fall on deaf ears. Keep the Foster Grandparent Program going for all the children of Minnesota. We need them and they need us." Several of the children received responses back from Governor Pawlenty. When I asked, "Weren't you surprised?" They replied, "No, you told us we count!" Ah…the innocence and faith of children! " 

The program taught the children many other valuable skills including: how to address an audience, debate an issue, recognize minority positions in a debate and prepare ourselves to enter middle school. All the while we accomplish this with the attitude, "Here I come, I am special!" 

We ended the year celebrating with a blue and gold decorated cake, inscribed with the words, "You are a star, just by being who you are."

Don Schmitz is a popular speaker and writer on parenting and grandparenting. He is the author of The New Face of Grandparenting…Why Parents Need Their Own Parents and founder of The Grandkidsandme Foundation and Grandparent Camps. Don holds graduate degrees in Education, Administration and Human Development. He is the father to three sons and nine grandchildren. Contact Don@grandkidsandme.com