Once upon a time, there was a Syracuse University professor named Marvin Druger. Marvin taught biology to more than 40,000 students over 47 years. Marvin was very good at biology and knew science very well. Then one day last year, Marvin decided to retire.

Now Marvin teaches poetry.

Marvin thinks everybody can write poetry. After all, if he can do it, anybody can.

‘You can do it, I can do it, everybody can do it,’ Marvin said.

Marvin thought children in the Syracuse community should write poems, too. So for years, he has traveled to the University Bookstore in the Schine Student Center to teach students poetry for Children’s Book Week.

Leah Deyneka said Children’s Book Week is a week that brings smiling boys and girls from all over Syracuse to share the joys of reading and writing. Leah even said from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. all this week, different SU volunteers read to students from the Dr. King Elementary School. Leah is the academic support coordinator for the bookstore’s general book department and said she is happy to spread the joy of reading to everyone.

‘We’re hoping it spreads the love of reading and that it gives them a greater connection to the university,’ Leah said.

Standing behind the big group of boys and girls, Leah smiled. She was laughing at Marvin’s poetry, which he wrote all by himself. Marvin read all kinds of poems. And he read some of his today at the bookstore.

Some were about macaroni, beef and bologna pizzas. ‘Ewwwww,’ the students screamed.

Marvin’s poems also taught the group how to be good girls and boys. He showed them how it is bad to be greedy and it is OK to cry.

‘My poems have some meaning,’ Marvin said with a big grin. ‘I try to put some meaning into it and put some lessons into life.’

Even though Marvin was teaching little girls and little boys, he just couldn’t help teaching like a professor. With a shiny red laser pointer, Marvin pointed to lines of poetry on a bright projection screen. Marvin said that style of teaching is engrained in him. It is how he helps everybody learn, big or small.

‘I can’t get away from it. I really miss teaching the course,’ Marvin said. ‘It keeps your hand in the pot a little bit.’

But some of the boys and girls were restless. They kept looking at other books in the store and didn’t look at Marvin. Marvin saw their restless looks and decided to let them read poetry, too.

Only the boys and girls with the loudest voices could read Marvin’s poems.

‘Who has a loud voice?’ Marvin asked. One little girl raised her hand and said she did.

The little girl read a poem about saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you.’ Sometimes she could not read the words. That was OK, though. Marvin and the other girls and boys helped her through the hard parts.

After, Marvin did not want others to feel left out. So the whole class read a poem about counting sheep. Marvin wanted everyone to know they can write poems, too. So he read poems his 7-year-old grandson had written. The boys and girls were excited by the poem, and they wanted to write, too.

‘I think he gets the message across in a funny way to the kids so that they really pick up on it,’ Leah said.

But when it was time to go, the children whined and pouted. They didn’t want to go back to school.

‘But wait, we have a big surprise waiting for you!’ one teacher said.

Suddenly, Curious George and Maisy the Mouse were standing in the bookstore. The boys and girls jumped with glee as they ran over to hug the Literacy Corps volunteers dressed as George and Maisy, each one telling them how much he or she loved the characters.

As they left the bookstore, Maisy and George even excited the big boys and girls in Schine Atrium. Hugging the fuzzy characters, the older boys and girls realized they, too, should join Children’s Book Week. 

One older girl, Rosa Guambana, said Children’s Book Week makes students understand how they should connect with the community’s children. ‘It makes us realize that we need to reach out for them,’ Rosa said. She studies international relations and is a junior.

And then there was Marvin. Marvin was happy to teach the little girls and boys how to write poetry. He said it makes him feel warm and fuzzy inside when he helps a child read. He’s not teaching 40,000 big boys and girls anymore, but teaching poetry still lets him live happily ever after.

 

ansteinb@syr.edu

Published on October 4, 2010 at 12:00 pm