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GIRAFFE OF THE MONTH
Samuel Hightower is a painting and building contractor in Massachusetts. He paints houses and big buildings all over the city of Boston. One part of that city, Roxbury, worried him a lot. People were very poor there, and it looked to Mr. Hightower like the kids didn't have much to do. He thought they needed new things to do that would keep them busy and make them happy.
Mr. Hightower is happy when he's making music, so he decided to start a music school for the kids in that neighborhood. He thought that if they were practicing on musical instruments, they'd be busy, and when they made music, they'd be happy.
Mr. Hightower had saved some money and he took it all out of the bank and bought an old building. Because he was a contractor, he knew how to fix old buildings, so he fixed everything that was broken. He painted everything so the place was beautiful for the children. But all his money was gone, and he had no music teachers. He talked to teachers all over the city about his new music school. Twenty-six of them agreed to teach without pay, because they liked what Mr. Hightower was doing. Soon 200 Roxbury kids were learning to sing, to play piano, trumpet, guitar, drums or violin. Mr. Hightower's dream was coming true.
Then there was terrible trouble. Martin Luther King was assassinated and there was a riot in Roxbury when people heard the news. People threw rocks and bricks at everything, including the music school, the teachers, and even the kids. The building was badly damaged and Mr. Hightower had no money to fix it. The Roxbury music school had to close.
Still he dreamed of a music school.
He worked harder than ever and saved every penny he could save. It took him a long time, but he finally had enough to buy an old building in Dorchester, another poor neighborhood. Once more, he worked hard repairing the building so it would be safe and beautiful for the children. But before this new school could open, someone set fire to the building. When Mr. Hightower went to see the damage, he was robbed by two thieves. Then someone broke in and took everything they thought they could sell-the sinks and lights, and even the pipes and wires. Mr. Hightower had lost all his savings and all his work again.
Some people would certainly have given up. But Mr. Hightower cared so much about kids that he went right on and started a music school in the basement of his church. Lots of kids came for lessons-so many they couldn't all get into the small basement. Mr. Hightower began saving again to buy a bigger place. He also asked lots of people to give money to help. And now, after many years of hard, hard work, Mr. Hightower has bought four buildings that he's making into music schools and other good places for kids and families.
Because he knows that all his hard work has changed the lives of hundreds of kids, Samuel Hightower is a happy man.
We asked the folks at the Giraffe Project to let us share some of the wonderful stories of personal transformation and public service here at New Horizons for Learning. The people at the Giraffe Project believe in being " finding, commending and publicizing people who stick their necks out for the common good." Their mission is to get others to look up, notice, and appreciate the quiet leaders in our communities.
Visit the Giraffe website to learn about The Giraffe Program, a K-12 curriculum that teaches kids about real heroes and gets them going on lives of courage, caring and responsibility, and the Giraffe Partners Trunk--everything a business or club needs to help a classroom full of kids to stand tall.
Copyright © 1998 The Giraffe Project, all rights reserved.Posted with permission by New Horizons for Learning
http://www.newhorizons.org
E-mail: info@newhorizons.org