By Mallory Gansberg
How education at Glenbrook North compares to education around the world. Big opportunities often come in small boxes.
Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world – Nelson Mandela
The atmosphere at Bernie’s Book Banks is warm and inviting, and you will find lots of information about their mission. According to Casey Barbknecht at Bernie’s Book Bank, the main goal is to provide “free, high-quality books to Children throughout Chicagoland in order to increase book ownership”.
I went to Bernie’s Book Bank on Friday, October 7, 2022, with a student (Brooke Abels) from another section of CST classes. I signed up to volunteer for an hour and a half session, and during that time I layered books and labeled pre-packed books with Bernie’s Book Bank stickers. Layering books is when you take four different titles and take turns putting approximately ten to fifteen books in the bin, then moving on to the next book. There are typically four book titles per bin, but the number might vary slightly, depending on their selection. Layering makes it so there is variety in each shipment that goes out to the children who benefit from this organization. Labeling books was when we took packages of the same books and put on a Bernie’s Book Bank sticker and then stack them to get them ready to move onto the next stage in the packing process, layering. In the half an hour that I spent packing, I was able to label three medium sized boxes full of books, and in my hour layering, I was able to fill four large tubs with my partner(s).
“Education is the key to unlocking the world. It is the passport to freedom” – Oprah Winfrey
The space at Bernie’s Book Bank is very large and open, although from the outside you would never know. They also have different locations so you can drop off books and not have to drive to Lake Bluff. The drop offs are at local bank branches and can be found on the Book Bin website.
The education system at Glenbrook North High School is ranked #469 in the nation, #20 out of Illinois High Schools. and #180 in STEM. Additionally, we have some of the highest proficiency scores, being in the top 5% of all Illinois schools, specifically in math and literacy. According to “School Snapshot” from “Illinois Report Card“, only 4.7% of students receive financial aid of some sort (free and reduced lunch, government, etc.) Additionally, only 13% of students have support in the form of an IEP, meaning most kids have no learning disability, or something unwritten. Throughout the article “The Education Crisis: Being in School Is Not the Same as Learning” researchers at World Bank analyzed how up-to-date students were in their education in other countries, meaning if they were able to do age appropriate tasks, for example, ”The name of the dog is puppy. This seems like a simple sentence. But did you know that in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, three out of four third grade students do not understand it? In rural India, nearly three-quarters of third graders cannot solve two-digit subtraction problems such as 46 minus 17, and by grade five — half still cannot do so” (World Bank 1). After reading further into the article, readers find out that more research from World Bank shows, “The latest World Bank Research shows that the productivity of 56 percent of the world’s children will be less than what it could be if they enjoyed complete education and full health” (World Bank 2). Students do not have the ability to get that education, and that affects many different aspects of their life, and their development. Towards the latter end of the story the World Bank references that “… learning happens best when instruction is personalized to meet the needs and strengths of each child, individual progress is tracked, and prompt feedback provided” (World Bank 8). This is not provided in places where they lack education, and even in schools like GBN, I have never seen anyone be “tracked” unless they had reason to be, such as they were on watch or had a learning plan. In class, we read an article “Educating Students for an outdated world“, all about a student, Max, from ten years ago. Readers learned how his education was a simple curriculum, but had nothing to do with lessons that he learned outside of school. He learned how to do basic math facts and read books, but he did not learn to thrive, only survive, and barley that. I was able to connect these articles as there was no independent study from either school. Both articles proved the idea that students go to school to be disciplined and sit in desks, not get an active education. They receive a forced education, not allowing them to think outside the bo and be disturbed by different viewpoints.
In the article “Education: Every child has the right to learn” their reports offers information about proficiency, “Over 600 million children and adolescents worldwide are unable to attain minimum proficiency levels in reading and mathematics, even though two third of them are in school” (Unicef 1). Compared to Glenbrook North High School, ranked at ranked #469 in the nation, #20 out of Illinois High Schools. and #180 in STEM, these numbers are substantial. Additionally, we have some of the highest proficiency scores, being in the top 5% of all Illinois schools, specifically in math and literacy. If we can read and write and we have the materials, it made me question why we were not able to provide those materials to others when we were done with them. Do you still read your picture books from first grade, or are they sitting on your shelf taking up space and collecting dust? Another interesting fact mentioned in “Right to Education: Situation around the World” was that “More than 72 million children of primary education age are not in school and 759 million adults are illiterate and do not have the awareness necessary to improve both their living conditions and those of their children” (Humanium 1). We have clubs at school to help tutor these children without the resources, and community outreach, but those activities are only for our community, and people throughout the world are not feeling the difference. I live in Cook County Illinois, and according to a self conducted interview with Casey Barbknecht, the Director of Volunteer Services at Bernie’s Book Bank, the organization provides for children in the “collar counties” such as Lake, Dupage, Kane, McHenry, and Will. These are places that I can drive to, places less than twenty minutes away, yet they don’t even have the resources we do, and some of them are considered the wealthiest areas of the world, such as Lake County.
I felt after volunteering and interviewing Casey that something from my project was missing. I felt that I had to help support the cause I wanted to invest my time and energy in, in a way that was more than just an interview and helping to pack and label books. I reached out to local stores and libraries to see if they would be interested in donating books to Book Bank that I would collect and deliver to a drop off site, but the only place that would donate to me was the Northbrook Public LIbrary, not places like Barnes and Nobles. I found it surprising that the only place willing to donate was a place that provides books to the community, and did not necessarily have books to spare. Additionally, I pushed myself outside my comfort zone when completing this activity, as I am not someone who finds pleasure in interacting with the unknown, or in this case, people who I don’t know. After only collecting books from the library, I put up an “poster” on social media asking people to donate, but none of my peers did. I had a goal of collecting 100 books from my community, but solely collected from the Northbrook Public Library. I also posted an “ad” on social media advertising that I was collecting books, but none of my peers responded to it. I feel as if it was ignored, and that we live in a bubble that does not acknowledge the information that I found in my research. Knowing first hand that reading takes me to a place like no other, I also know that it is a multi-use activity. It is great for fun, relieving stress, and learning.
“More than 72 million children of primary education age are not in school and 759 million adults are illiterate and do not have the awareness necessary to improve both their living conditions and those of their children” (Humanium 1).
“In certain countries, such as Somalia and Burkina Faso, more than 50% of children recieve an education for a period less than 2 years” (Humanium 2).
Let’s help them and become the change that we want to see!
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