MARQUIS MAY 2024

MARQUIS • Serving St. Louis’ Near Southside Neighborhoods 4 MAY 2024 Barr Library is ready for the warm weather and plentiful sunshine of summer. With each month in 2024, we see more visitors. The average number of people coming to the library from January through March 2024 was 4,875. More than 10 groups have reserved meeting room space each month, the average number of documents notarized is 46, and we have had well over 100 kids and caregivers attending our youth programs every month. Barr offers several programs for kids and teens, including Video Gaming on Tuesday afternoons and Lego Club on Thursday afternoons from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Storytime for babies, toddlers and preschoolers includes stories, songs, rhymes, movement and playtime every Friday at 10:30 a.m. Visit slpl.org and click “Events” to learn more. The Summer Challenge begins in June, Barr Library offers a variety of events B y T iger R eed , B arr B ranch M anager and SLPL will host various live perfor- mances over the summer. At Barr, we will have Ballet 314 for ballet Storytime. There also will be outdoor Storytimes at the Lafayette Park Summer Concert Series. Stay tuned for more information. Notary services are available from when we open until 15 minutes before closing. We suggest that you call Barr or any other location you visit for notary services to ensure that the notary is avail- able. For more information, visit slpl.org/ voterpassportnotary/. Barr Library facilitates two book clubs that meet monthly in person in Barr’s lower-level meeting room: Sci-Fi Swap Meet meets at 6 p.m. the second Monday of the month, and Novel Neighbors meets at 3 p.m. on the third Saturday of the month. The Barr Creative Experience is open during regular library hours, and everyone is welcome to use state-of-the- art Microsoft Surface Studio computers, large-format printers, the laser cutter and an in-house recording studio, as well as create 3D prints. Creative Experience also hosts a variety of programs throughout the year. For more information, visit slpl.org and click “Events” or call 314-241-2288. The Lafayette Park Preschool self- built comic book library is filled with the books the children wrote. This encapsulates what keeps Amanda Rammacher going. LPP teachers are paid the most in happy moments B y A manda R ammacher , D irector , L afayette P ark P reschool The years of my own children needing care are now past, yet I remain at LPP. The job holds no forward moves up a ladder and pay is much higher in hugs than in keeping up with inflation. This little preschool holds a portion of my heart —Mrs. Edna’s heart that she passed on to me. The day before Easter, I got up at 6 in the morning for another preschool fundraiser. Starting at dawn, I “hopped” around yards dropping off Easter eggs for families to enjoy. As I yawned and poured my coffee, I thought, “Why do I do this to myself?” And on the cup was the answer: Teacher Fuel. Teacher fuel. What keeps a teacher going? I can’t speak for all of us educators, but this basement professional nose-wiper can think of a few: The hugs, the ones that wrap around your leg when they just need a squeeze. That light bulb that turns on as a child figures out something new. Two kids holding hands. The uproar of laughter when we read “The Book with No Pictures” — a gift from a little Nora Fink. When shy teary eyes are replaced by happy smiles for a brave-girl sticker. When hearing that my students get upset that it’s not a school day. A child’s real giddiness over trying buttermilk during Harvest Party prep.When younger siblings scream in excitement to join the class and older siblings want to come back on their days off. When a 4-year-old doesn’t want to leave the work table and begs for more to learn. The kids making their own comic book library together. I’ll never forget running into now-third grade alumni kids at Lafayette Park and their excitement to see me and talking my ear off while their current teacher came to ask who the strange adult they were chat- ting with was. A past parent who did Egg My Yard returned eggs to us and asked if he could look in the classroom. His face reminis- cent and thinking of his growing children pulled my heart strings in such an unex- pected way. Over the years, I have gotten letters and drawings from students long after they left for kindergarten and a letter from a grand- mother expressing the joy she got from being a part of our school. A letter from the LSNA recognizing the preschool’s commitment to support fami- lies in our community honestly brought tears to my eyes. Each little step I took led me here. All of these fuelmypassion. I learned to love educa- tion just like I hope to teach my kiddos. Registration for next fall’s classes are open. We are in need of 4-year-olds to complete our roster of pre-kindergarten kiddos. Some consider it a calling. Some consider it a curse. For me, I think teaching was fate. When I started studying education in college, I only picked it because I could get scholarships and get out of my small town to a college that had free applications. By the time I was a young mother of three myself, I started my twins in a program we could afford, and it required parent volunteers. That was 15 years ago. The late Mrs. Edna Coleman welcomed me as a volunteer and hired me as her assistant. She was in her 60s and looking to retire, and, in a turn of luck, picked me to continue her legacy. Being a part of Lafayette Park Preschool worked in our lives. I could have a job and take care of my kids at the same time.