Yale Bulletin and Calendar

November 22, 2002|Volume 31, Number 12|Two-Week Issue

A new book club established by alumnus and Yale trustee Dr. Benjamin Carson is designed to introduce New Haven youngsters to the benefits of reading.

Trustee launches book club for city youths

A love of books and reading spurred Yale trustee Dr. Benjamin Carson to achieve academic and career success, despite being raised in poverty in Baltimore's inner-city, and now he is sharing his positive experience with Elm City schoolchildren through a program he is co-sponsoring with Yale's Office of New Haven and State Affairs.

In his best-selling book "Gifted Hands," Carson describes how he went from being a failure at school to an honor student. He credits his love of reading with helping to transform him from a child with a violent temper into a mature, compassionate young man -- one who refused to allow negative peer pressure to dictate his life. A 1973 graduate of Yale College, Carson is now director of pediatric neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions.

For years, Carson has traveled throughout the country to bring young people the message that, with perseverance and knowledge, they can overcome any obstacle and achieve success -- what he calls his "THINK BIG" philosophy.

He explains: "T is for recognizing talent/time as gifts from God; H is for hope and honesty; I is for insight from people and good books; N is for being nice to all people; K is for recognizing knowledge as the key to living; B is for reading books; I is for developing in-depth learning skills; and G is for God, never getting too big for Him."

As part of his outreach to young people, the alumnus founded the Ben Carson Yale University Club, which seeks to enhance existing reading curricula and practices in New Haven's elementary schools and to promote reading as a pastime for both families and individuals.

The book club is open to all New Haven Public School students in grades 2-6. Parents can sign up their children as individual club members. Group registrations are available to schools, churches and community organizations that want to incorporate Carson's THINK BIG philosophy into their current or proposed youth programs.

Club members will be able to earn points they can exchange for incentive prizes each month; members who qualify will be able to attend a special event featuring Carson, which will be held on the Yale campus. Club members will receive a special sticker for their New Haven Free Public Library Card, a copy of Carson's book "Gifted Hands" and a THINK BIG bookmark.

Yale's Office of New Haven and State Affairs is assisting the New Haven Free Public Library to create kits that can be used to create a Ben Carson Reading Room. These will include a special banner, THINK BIG block letters for display, pledge forms for students to sign up, prize point information, prizes for the program and a special T-shirt for each club member.

Individual and group registration forms are available at all branches of the New Haven Free Public Library or at the New Haven Reads Community Book Bank at 252 Park St. Completed forms can be returned to any New Haven Public Library branch through Jan. 1, 2003.

For more information, contact Claudia Merson, public schools partnership coordinator at Yale, at (203) 432-4098.

-- By Thomas R. Violante

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