“If you dream it, believe it, and work hard for it, anything is possible.”
By the time Principal Cristy Harris reached the end of “Mae Among the Stars,” a picture book by Roda Ahmed, the kindergarteners in Rebecca Cambarari’s class knew the refrain and were saying it in unison.
Principal Harris is reading the book to all kindergarten, first and second grade classes in February and March. It tells the story of Mae Jemison, the first Black woman to travel to space. She’s reading “Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13” by Helaine Becker to the third through fifth graders.
“I selected books with smart, accomplished, and heroic Black American women in the fields of math and science as the main characters in celebration of February’s Black History Month and the upcoming Women’s History Month in March,” said Principal Harris.
After reading the book together, Principal Harris showed the students a brief video that introduced the real Mae Jemison. The class learned that Jemison began college when she was just 16 years old and knew four languages by the time she graduated. Even so, she was not able to train as an astronaut. She persevered, remembering her childhood dream. After a career as a medical doctor, she joined NASA and traveled to space on the shuttle Endeavor.
The students shared their dreams with the class. They included being an astronaut, a veterinarian, a snow plower and book writer, a teacher-scientist, an artist/ballerina/singer and jewelry maker, and president.
“If you dream it, believe it, and work hard for it, anything is possible,” they said together.