Bringing Kids’ Writer to Kids

Remember when teachers were teachers? Dedicated, inspirational, informative--even rare good fun? Well, some of them still are.

Take Jane Sierra, who teaches kindergarten at Kittridge Street Elementary in Van Nuys. Her class is bilingual, which presents some problems, but nothing insurmountable. Kindergarten is the place where kids initially learn to love (or hate) literature. “Dick and Jane” don’t quite cut it, say Sierra and a surprising number of her colleagues.

Contemporary children’s books--some of them--do. “It’s simple, really,” Sierra says. “The state even made a study, and they discovered--surprise!--that ‘Children are much more interested in reading when the reading material is interesting.’ ”

Sierra’s kids dote on Bernard Waber’s stuff, mostly the “Lyle, Lyle Crocodile” series but also their current favorite: “Ira Sleeps Over.” Sierra has been reading to her class. They, in turn, tell her what parts they like, and she writes down their responses, “so they can make the connection between oral and written language.” Further making a connection between writer and writing, Sierra called Waber in New York last week.

The Kinder came to school on “Waber Day” dressed in pajamas and carrying teddy bears. So did Sierra. So, in effect, did Waber, who sent a picture of him, also in ‘jamas and carrying a bear. Over a phone speaker, he fielded the children’s questions, some of them surprisingly sharp. The class was suitably impressed. So was Waber.

For Sierra, it was just another (strenuous) day. “I try to make it a continuing circus,” she says, “one with a lesson. If they can’t have fun in kindergarten, where can they?”

A Bit of Luck for the Unlucky

Each year, somewhere out there in L.A. are a thousand handicapped but nonetheless lucky kids. The bad news is that the youngsters are either physically or economically disadvantaged. The good news is that they have been targeted, by committees in every L.A. school, for the attention of the Fulfillment Fund, a little-publicized but successful group of volunteers who feel that it’s about the worst thing in the world to waste the life of a bright kid who didn’t get the breaks.

Last week, it was the turn of the economically disadvantaged--”six youngsters from each high school,” says Dr. Gary Gitnick, the fund’s president, “who have two things in common: They all have above-average intelligence and they all come from backgrounds that make their teachers and counselors feel they won’t accomplish as much in life as they otherwise might.”

At a dinner at the Beverly Hilton, the children were matched with adults “who’d had the same kinds of problems but went on to most successful careers. We try to encourage liaisons between the adults and the kids, who often have nobody else to turn to,” says Gitnick.

The physically handicapped are similarly treated in turn, with handicapped adults who’ve been successful serving as role models.

With little fanfare, the Fulfillment Fund also throws a holiday party at UCLA for several hundred of the city’s most disabled. Also planned is a camp at Malibu “to instruct the youngsters how to dress, how to take an interview, get a job, make a good impression--and help each other,” Gitnick says. “All of our programs, really, are our way of saying, ‘There’s somebody out there who cares about you--and will be talking to you as you get older.”

Gene Kelly’s is polka-dotted in shamrocks. Frank Sinatra’s sports a bow tie and the legend “Scooby-Dooby-Doo.” Jimmy Stewart’s is a replica of Harvey, the great white rabbit. Steve Sax’s wears the Dodger Blue.

They’re Easter eggs, custom-made and autographed by celebrities, and they’re going to be auctioned Wednesday night in the Crystal Room of the Beverly Hills Hotel for the benefit of the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

“I’m anxious to see (the collection),” says Michael Lewis, national president as well as head of the local chapter of Make-a-Wish, a nonprofit organization that grants the wishes of children with life-threatening diseases. “Most people don’t appreciate that these are original works of art. The main idea is to get word out about our service, learn about more kids who need us--but we don’t turn down the money.”

Star of last year’s initial effort--decorated, chocolate-filled eggshells donated by Finland’s renowned Fazer chocolatier--was Ronald Reagan’s egg, sporting a furled flag and the President’s autograph and selling for $1,650. “They’ll last for 10 years in a cold place,” says a Fazer spokesperson, “but the hole for the chocolate is plugged with just sugar, and if it gets warm, you have a problem.”

Still, you can keep the shells, decorated and signed by the likes of Johnny Carson, Ed Asner, LeRoy Neiman, Charles Schulz, Bette Davis, Hugh Hefner, Farrah Fawcett. . . .

Friends Remember Mitch Gordon, a Man With a Huge Heart

They’re having a picnic today in celebration of Mitch Gordon. In memory, too, but mostly in celebration. It’s at Rancho Park on Motor Avenue: games, sports, an appearance by the Carrousel of Clowns, a basketball demonstration by the handicapped. Most important, the latter. The Mitchell E. Gordon Memorial Fund, now up to $25,000, goes to the California Special Olympics, one of Mitch’s many interests.

Mitch Gordon, 6-foot-5, athletic, strong, a native of Los Angeles, sales rep for Powell and Co., died in September at 33. His heart went, just like that. There are those who say it was too big; those who loved him. Numbering in the hundreds, maybe more, they cooked up the picnic, “Family Day in the Park.” There may be more. Why? Says Mitch’s father, Harry: “It didn’t matter if it was a baby or a grandfather, Mitch would make him feel special. He had a gift. His friends, they just don’t want to let him go.” Exactly.