Decatur Boxing Club

There was a group of children in a school in Seattle who came with an idea. They wanted to try something sad in the happy things, find the positive in the negative. The idea was born because when you're in the third or fourth year of life can be sweet one moment, candy obsolete tomorrow. One group of girls, Amy, who just turned 11, had a pet rabbit named Roger beloved deceased. The loss still smarts.Through their informal club, Amy and her school friends, Jasmine, Chloe, Hailey, Annie, Madi and Naomi would seek to turn frowns upside down. The only question was how.

The children thought. They decided that books would become their tool to make a difference. School had reinforced their love of books. They respected the power of words on the printed page no small feat in an era of television. Books could offer stories with powerful messages, they knew, and these messages could inspire. The girls asked people in their district and the parents of classmates to donate toasters, baby toys and whatever they could to a large garage sale the first week of June They raised $ 400.

The girls have bought 36 books. They had a house for them in their elementary school library, where one has a wall of posters on Washington in March 1963 and the other is a photo of the late Coretta Scott King. Inspired by a school librarian, worked as a team toward a goal.
It is easy to miss such learning that occurs regularly in public schools. Budget woes, school closures and scandals involving high school hoops teams tend to make headlines for more juicy. The book club is one of those stories that would have remained calm in the dark was not something bad happened. A month ago, Mary Cooper and Susanna Stodden her daughter went for a hike in the forest of Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National. They were found dead to death in a double murder that rocked the region.

The unsolved murders particularly hit home for children in Decatur AEII Elementary School in North Seattle because Cooper was their librarian, the keeper of their stories, inspiring a smile of their dreams. "Mary in the library, such as children's baptism slowly transformed an ordinary place into an extraordinary space.

One recent afternoon the school library was been silent. Placed on a wooden table sat a cardboard box that held three dozen books, including one on rabbits and other smart about this mischievous pot. These books were, with "Peter and the Starcatchers" and others, that Cooper had on his wish list.

His wish came true thanks to Amy, Jasmine, Chloe, Hailey, Annie, Madi and Naomi with everyone who has launched to help these students in Decatur. After the unthinkable happened, the girls met. They created designs for a bookplate that will go inside each of the new books before school starts. The plate has a sun in one corner, a moon in another. It shows an open book with its facade and lids in sight. A cover says "Mary" and the other says "Cooper." In the back are three words: "In memory of. This tribute is a worthy way a group of children is dedicated to forging lasting good of the horror continued.