Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 25, 1992 TAG: 9202250061
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MELISSA DeVAUGHN
DATELINE: ELLISTON LENGTH: Medium
EEK! MYSZKAS OVERRUN MONTGOMERY SCHOOL
Mary Jakubowski, the librarian at Elliston-Lafayette Elementary School, just wanted "a little gimmick to introduce the children to different concepts, ideas and especially good literature."So she thought "Why not introduce a little mouse to the kids and let her serve as a mascot?
"And why not name her Myszka?" - which means little mouse in Polish.
That's what she did and the response was incredible.
On "Mrs. J's" - that's what all the kids call her - desk is a huge box, crammed and overflowing with letters, stories, pictures and notes for Myszka. Needless to say, Mrs. J is pleased.
"I wanted to do something different this year," said Jakubowski, who has been a librarian at the school since 1980. "And a mouse goes so well with a library and books, you know."
The mouse goes well with the children, too. Mrs. J said the children ask about Myszka every day and when they visit the library, Myszka is the first thing they head for.
"They really think she's alive," Jakubowski said. "Of course, there's a magic to her for them."
The magic is really just a bit of gray fluff and a bunch of stuffing, a couple white ears and a pointed little nose. But the furry little creature has served another, more important purpose in the children's lives. Through that mysterious magic, she is encouraging them to draw, read and especially write.
"The mouse theme is taught in all the grades [kindergarten through second]," Jakubowski said. "In science, they've learned about mouse parts and in English, they write thank-you letters to Myszka. They write about mice, and even in reading they like to read the books that Myszka recommends."
Each week, Myszka writes a letter to the young pupils (actually Mrs. J does the writing, but that's a secret). Then Mrs. J reads the letter to the children. Myszka describes her week and asks the pupils what important things have happened in their lives. Usually, she recommends a "really interesting" book and tells the kids how fun it was to read.
"Myszka's a real mouse and she writes about us," said 6-year-old Ernestina Owusu. "She's our real good friend."
Ernestine proved how much she loved Myszka when the little mouse had eye surgery (the stuffed animal's plastic eye popped off and had to be sewn on again). Ernestine made a big "Get Well Soon" card and sent it to the furry rodent.
Amanda Mabes, 7, reads all the books Myszka reads, and writes to the little mouse almost every day. She also likes Nichollas (really a little mouse figurine that decorates the library shelves) who is Myszka's fictional cousin. "I pet him and play with him and stuff," Amanda said.
And due to popular demand, Myszka had a birthday in January.
"The kids kept asking me when her birthday was, so we decided to celebrate it," Jakubowski said.
Nick Wells, 6, made a big card for Myszka, colored in red and blue, that said, "Happy Birthday Myszka. I love you and Alex [Alex is another cousin]."
"I wrote to her when she had a hurt eye, too," Nick said.
As with most small rodents, the mice have begun to multiply. So that each child could have their very own Myszka, Jakubowski and some of the other teachers at the school started a shoulder-pad drive (shoulder pads are those big, puffy things that come with almost any women's shirt or sweater these days).
Parents got involved and so did some of the school administrators. Before they knew it the teachers had collected more than 130 shoulder pads. By attaching a little yarn tail and some felt ears, they were recycled into little mice. Now every kindergartener, first- and second-grader has his or her very own Myszka.
"I didn't realize it would snowball this much, but everything has evolved naturally," Jakubowski said. "The children read and are becoming creative. They write all the time, even when they don't have to.
"And they're showing so much compassion for her [Myszka]. When she was sick, we had to put a patch on her eye. They hug her and put her to sleep. It's been extremely educational and it's teaching the children values. That is very important."
Jakubowski says Myszka probably will stay next year. "As long as she continues to motivate the children as she's been doing, she'll be around forever."