Edith Smith began leading the effort to desegregate Waukegan’s schools in 1965, the same year former U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., was beaten on the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma, Alabama, and the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. led the fight for civil rights nationally.
When the former Daniel Webster Middle School was officially renamed the Edith Smith Middle School last summer, Principal Yvonne Brown said she wanted students to learn about “greatness in our backyard,” studying people from Waukegan who achieved prominence.
Smith students will learn more at school about Waukegan native and famed author Ray Bradbury through a partnership between the Ray Bradbury Experience Museum and Waukegan Community Unit School District 60, thanks to a $5,000 grant the museum received from Illinois Humanities.
Sandy Petroshius, the museum’s committee chair, said the grant funding the museum’s partnership with the school comes from money allocated for coronavirus pandemic relief from the federal government through the National Endowment for the Arts.
Mark Hallet, the director of grant programs for Illinois Humanities, said the grant for the Bradbury museum is part of more than $1 million his organization was able to distribute throughout the state for cultural programs.
“This gives the next generation of young people the chance to learn about a local celebrated author,” Hallet said. “This will help the museum and local public schools.”
Petroshius said the school reached out last summer to see if the museum might participate in the summer school enrichment program. It did not work at the time, but when she got notice of the grant in September, she saw the opportunity to do much more.
“The students will be able to learn what Ray Bradbury was all about in a number of ways,” Petroshius said. “They’ll read about Ray Bradbury over a number of weeks. They may publish a book with drawings about what they learn. This will give them an understanding of the person he was.”
Though Bradbury died in 2012 at 91, Petroshius said his work remains timely. The movie made from one of his most popular novels, “Fahrenheit 451,” was remade in 2018 by HBO. It paints a picture of a future America where books are banned and firefighters burn the ones they find.
“His books are relevant today,” Petroshius said. “The issues then are still being talked about now. His work is being discussed today.”
Nichol Mangino, Smith’s assistant principal, said learning more about Bradbury will give students an opportunity to learn about someone from Waukegan who became famous around the world. He can be a role model to today’s youngsters.
Mangino said the program will have several parts to it, including a trip to the Genesee Theatre to watch movies stemming from Bradbury’s books — he wrote screenplays for many — and a club where students can delve deeper into his writing.
“This will give students a chance to learn a lot more about Ray Bradbury and his books,” Mangino said. “We’ll go to the museum and the theater. We’ll be reading his books, and writing about them.”
Petroshius said the students will get a chance to read books like “Dandelion Wine” in which Bradbury wrote about childhood in the fictitious Midwestern city of Greentown. Greentown is the name the author gave in his writing to the Waukegan of his youth.
A variety of books will be introduced to the students. Mangino said they will be age-appropriate and at different levels of reading skill to give as many children as possible the opportunity to experience Bradbury’s literature.
“We want special education students, and those not reading at grade level yet, to enjoy the program too,” Mangino said. “We want them to read, comprehend and enjoy.”
While reading Bradbury’s books will be part of the curriculum, those who want more can join the after-school club. Mangino said participants will not only be reading, but writing as well as they learn more about the author.
