Unsung Heroes: Making a Difference in the Lives of Children
Stories, trains, puppets, beautifully illustrated children’s books, zoo animals… all of these things are beloved childhood experiences. Kansas City is fortunate to be home to some of the best storytellers in our region, wonderful family train rides, fabulous libraries, talented puppeteers and a remarkable zoo. Bringing these things to life for Kansas City’s kids are unsung heroes: adults who love what they do and love taking children on an imaginative journey to create memories and learn lessons that last a lifetime.
Jo Ho the Storyteller: Johnson County Library System-wide Presenter
Stories are powerful things. Without hopping on a plane or boat, children can travel to places far from home, imagine they are wild animals or embark on historic adventures. In Kansas City, Jo Ho the Storyteller, is one of the most beloved children’s guides into a story’s imaginary world.
You can find Jo at the library, local schools, preschools or museums in fun hats with simple props encouraging enthralled children to participate in the stories with her. Together they act out characters, create sounds and imitate animals.
Jo’s own storytelling tale began in Baton Rouge, La., in 1989, with a 2-year-old daughter pulling at her skirt. Although Jo loved her career acting in local theater, she missed her daughter greatly. Becoming a storyteller would afford her home time with her daughter and allow her to use her theatrical background to engage children. In the last 20 years, Jo has developed more than 100 thematic programs for preschools, elementary schools, seniors, special needs groups and educational workshops for students and teachers.
In the ‘70s, Jo had worked in KC with Theater for Young America and in 2001, she moved back to Kansas City with her two children. “Although I’ve lived many places, there is something special about the Midwest. The people are friendly, it is family-oriented, and you build relationships with community and neighbors,” she says. “Dorothy was right, ‘There’s no place like home.’”
She joined the River and Prairie Story Weavers who had worked for 10 years, laying the foundation for a love of storytelling and special programs in libraries and schools.
Now, she presents two programs daily--three to four a day in the summer--across Missouri and Kansas, thanks in part to funding from the Kansas Arts Commission. She introduces a new thematic program monthly, ranging from Arctic Animals to the American Revolution. This summer, Jo is the system-wide summer reading program presenter for the Johnson County Library, appearing at each branch with storytelling for children and special dramatic and improv workshops for older kids. One program you don’t want to miss this summer is “Kid Authored Whoppers” featuring stories written by local kids.
Jo’s greatest fans, of course, are the children. Ashley, one of Jo’s true fans, writes, “Dear Jo, Thank you for coming to our school and telling us stories. You are funny very, very, very, very, very, very, very, and very funny. I like you.”
Nancy Clark: Puppetry Arts Institute
Once upon a time, a 7-year-old local girl named Nancy received a very special, much desired Christmas gift: a Hazelle marionette puppet named Dwarf. That little girl loved puppets and grew up dreaming of becoming a full-time puppeteer. She ended up becoming a speech language pathologist, upon her mother’s encouragement. Her mother believed girls should be able to support themselves and was unsure about the reliability of a career in puppets. Nancy continued her hobby and love for puppets, using them as a tool in speech pathology with young children. In 2000, she volunteered as an original member of the Board of Directors, helping to create the Puppetry Arts Institute. She retired in 2008 and started working full time at the PAI in June. Last November, she became Executive Director of the PAI.
Tucked away in Independence’s historic Englewood district, the PAI is a charming museum with puppets from around the world. One room is dedicated to America’s first puppet factory, Hazelle, which was established in Kansas City during the Great Depression. The Institute now owns the remainder of the factory collection and uses the vinyl puppet heads and molds for puppet making workshops.
In a world where children grow up “plugged in” to television, ipods, Wiis and computers, Nancy enjoys taking children on an imaginative journey with the simplicity of puppets. Puppets present storytelling in an elemental way, stirring creativity and curiosity. Imagination fills in the blanks where Hollywood’s special effects are absent.
The PAI offers affordable family fun with several options to inspire the imagination. For only $5 each, visitors can attend a workshop where they paint molded Hazelle, Inc., puppets, attach bodies and perform a show on a professional puppet stage. PAI also hosts monthly puppet shows at $5 per ticket. Museum tours are $3 for adults, $1.50 for children under 16.
The PAI shares Kansas City history beyond Hazelle through special shows featuring local stories. Recently, they developed a Lewis and Clark puppet show from the viewpoint of Seaman, the dog, to present at the National Frontier Trails Museum. In May, they presented a show in honor of President Truman’s birthday for the Truman Presidential Library.
Nancy Clark undoubtedly would not think of herself as a hero, but to us she is. She brings history, imagination and stories to life for children in Kansas City, and for that, we are grateful.
Kansas City Northern Railroad Club
The railroad fascinates children and intrigues grown men. It evokes nostalgia and captivates the imagination. Tucked away in the Northland, on N.W. Waukomis Drive, Kansas City’s fifty-cent treasure awaits families each summer.
The story began in 1984, when a group of volunteers took to heart the message of The Little Engine that Could, saying, “We think we can, we think we can.” Indeed they did!
The original Swope Park Zoo train of 1948, retired after 24 years of faithful service, sat in storage until 1984, falling into disrepair. Then the KC Parks and Recreation Department advertised in The Clay Dispatch-Tribune for someone to restore the train. Enter the Kansas City Northern Railroad, a group of train-lovers who developed a strategy to restore the Zoo Train to her original glory. After years of work, the Kansas City Southern Train No. 31, The Southern Belle, went back into operation at Line Creek Park in July 1992.
Since then, the KCNRR has acquired two additional trains: The Missouri Pacific No. 561 (c. 1963) named The Eagle, from the Ross Park Zoo in Binghamton, N.Y., and the Union Pacific No. 910 (c. 1953) from the Manhattan, Kan., zoo, aptly named City of Kansas City.
Volunteers work year-round to maintain, restore and operate the trains at their original ticket prices: 50 cents a ride. Ticket receipts, donations and volunteer labor fund the KCNRR’s operations entirely. From May’s first weekend until September’s last, the public can enjoy riding the rails. In 2008, the trains transported 33,560 riders.
Jack Morgan shares the story of one faithful young passenger. While riding a train on vacation in Italy, he followed KCNRR tradition upon entering a tunnel: he waved his arms while whooping and hollering! Apparently this Kansas City tradition is unknown in Italy and evoked peculiar looks and comments from fellow passengers. The boy eagerly returned to KC where his love for tunnel screaming was appreciated!
The Southern Belle, The Eagle and City of Kansas City are beloved among Kansas Citians. But it is the men and women behind the scenes who bring the charm to the Line Creek Railroad. “We do it for the kids,” Jack Morgan shares, “We love watching their smiling faces, listening to their screams in the tunnel and watching their excitement. We love to see them smile!”
Anitra Steele: Children’s Services Manager, Mid-Continent Public Libraries
Kansas City is rich with wonderful libraries. Our online catalogs, numerous local locations and fabulous FREE programs for all ages are a treasure trove for families. The Mid-Continent Public Libraries are one of our outstanding local library systems and the children’s program is exceptional. Every summer, Mid-Continent awards hundreds of free books to children who participate in the Summer Reading Program, and every year the library sponsors hundreds of workshops and programs for all ages.
Anitra Steele, one of our local heroes, is behind the success of the children’s programs at MCPL. It’s been 33 years since Anitra was hired as the first Children’s Specialist (now titled Children’s Services Manager) in the Mid-Continent Public Library system, and she still holds the job!
Her interest in libraries began on a high school tour of the Library of Congress. She studied library science in college and graduated in 1972 from the University of Oklahoma with a Master’s, back when libraries used actual card catalogs. She took her first library job at the Livingston County Library in Chillicothe. Then as America celebrated its bicentennial in 1976, she earned the position of Children’s Specialist at Mid-Continent.
Anitra organizes and leads the children’s programs at 29 branches across the metro, including 106 weekly story times, Discovery Clubs for school age children and Family Programs at each branch. She also oversees the Summer Reading Program, selecting incentive books for the children who complete up to five reading lists for five free tomes.
She has been developing programs and puppet shows at the library since her tenure began, and now has parents who remember attending her puppet shows and story times bringing their own children to her programs.
One of Anitra’s specialties is creating online bibliographies of books according to children’s interests and ages--great tools for parents seeking books in a particular genre, topic or age bracket.
Asking Anitra about her favorite book is like asking a great chef about a favorite ingredient. Anitra simply loves books. She doesn’t just choose books, shelve books and read books to young children; she knows children’s literature intimately. From January through March, she participates in the Librarians Reading Challenge, this year reading 10,000 pages of juvenile and young adult titles.
“I have the best job in the library,” Anitra says. “I get a lot of thanks and knee hugs. No one knee hugs the Reference Librarian.”
Bill Araujo and Bill Whinery: Kansas City Zoo Docents
They’re both grandfathers, love animals, have been visiting the Kansas City Zoo for over 30 years and both are named Bill. They both are also dedicated to making a positive difference in the lives of children as they help to improve the Kansas City Zoo. Both men acknowledge that the zoo has gone through a major transformation. Bill Araujo credits Randy Wisthoff, director, with turning around the zoo’s entire atmosphere and helping it to become the welcoming family environment it is today.
Bill Whinery has been volunteering at the zoo for three years. He loves the lorikeets because they are the only animals the docents touch. He also loves the elephants because they are so impressive--he even owns three elephant paintings, one of the zoo’s most novel souvenirs.
Araujo has been serving as a Zoo volunteer for the past six years. He is now the docent program coordinator, working to train volunteer educators who love animals and love children and want to help build the best, friendliest zoo in the nation. He helps with off-site programs at schools and nursing homes, birthday parties at the zoo and on any given day can be found throughout the zoo talking to visitors. When asked what his favorite animal was, he answered, “The one I’m with.”
Both men love to ask kids questions to cultivate their interest in the animals and get them thinking. Their goal is to inspire children to be ecologically minded and help them to think of simple ways they can make a positive difference, like turning off the lights, picking up trash and recycling. Whinery says, “The more children know about animals, the more likely they are to conserve a species.”
One story Bill Araujo uses to get children thinking is a legend about an old man on vacation at the beach. He arrives at night during an intense thunderstorm. After the storm, the man is eager to see what’s been washed ashore and kneels down to discover a starfish. Down the shore he sees a young girl tossing starfish back into the ocean. When questioned, she tells him, “I am rescuing the starfish.” He asks, “Why are you bothering? You can’t save them all. You’re not making a difference.” The little girl throws one more starfish into the sea and says, “It made a difference to that starfish.”
Making a Difference
Making a difference… that’s what it is all about. Jo shared with me that one of her most treasured gifts came from a 5-year-old girl, Diasia. This winter, Diasia came up to Jo and told her she loved her stories and wanted to give her a gift of gratitude. Diasia presented Jo with a shiny penny that Jo now keeps in a keepsake box. Diasia knew what we at Kansas City Parent Magazine have come to know: Jo and all of our unsung heroes are making a wonderful difference in the lives of Kansas City kids and we are extraordinarily grateful.
Kristina Light enjoys raising her two daughters with her husband, Ron, in her hometown of Kansas City.