May 17, 2005: Headlines: Figures: COS - Ethiopia: Insurance: State Politics: Union Democrat: John Garamendi hears tends Peter Yarrow of Operation Respect, a nonprofit he founded seven years ago to encourage kids to be compassionate, safe and respectful
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May 17, 2005: Headlines: Figures: COS - Ethiopia: Insurance: State Politics: Union Democrat: John Garamendi hears tends Peter Yarrow of Operation Respect, a nonprofit he founded seven years ago to encourage kids to be compassionate, safe and respectful
John Garamendi hears Peter Yarrow of Operation Respect, a nonprofit he founded seven years ago to encourage kids to be compassionate, safe and respectful
John Garamendi hears Peter Yarrow of Operation Respect, a nonprofit he founded seven years ago to encourage kids to be compassionate, safe and respectful
Singer strikes chord with kids
Published: May 16, 2005
By ERIN MAYES
A gym-full of exuberant Valley Springs Elementary School students on Friday got to sing some of their favorite songs with a man who helped define the anti-war movement in the 1960s.
Peter Yarrow — of Peter, Paul and Mary fame — strummed his guitar to such tunes as "Puff, the Magic Dragon," "A Frog Went a Courtin'" and the kids' favorite — "Don't Laugh at Me."
Yarrow, 66, visits schools, camps and organizations across the nation as part of Operation Respect, a nonprofit he founded seven years ago to encourage kids to be compassionate, safe and respectful.
The organization disseminates material to schools designed to reduce ridicule, bullying and violence among children.
Valley Springs students treated the folk singer like a major celebrity, clapping and screaming following the final song of the day — "If I Had a Hammer" — which Peter, Paul and Mary sang at the 1963 civil rights march on Washington, D.C., where Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech.
The students lined up for hugs, kisses and autographs from Yarrow after the show. Yarrow gladly took time with each child.
"(It) always surprises me," he said of the kids' reaction to him after the hour-long show was over. "They are completely original. Adults' responses rarely surprise me."
Also in attendance were Yarrow's pals, California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi and his wife Patti. The Garamendis' daughter, Autumn Hesser, and her husband Kevin Hesser both teach at Valley Springs Elementary. Yarrow happily sat the Hessers' 3-year-old, Bennie, on his lap and played with the boy during a short post-performance interview.
Among the messages Yarrow delivered to students was that of tolerance. In the song "A Frog Went a Courtin'," Mister Frog marries Miss Mouse in an unlikely pairing of species. Yarrow quickly related this to the topic of interracial relationships.
The song "Don't Laugh at Me" points out the many differences between people — some wear glasses or are fat, skinny, homeless or disabled.
"Don't laugh at me, don't call me names, don't get your pleasure from my pain," the students sang.
The students were largely receptive to the New Yorker's message, although they did get tripped up when he threw the unexpected "I am gay, I am lesbian," into "Don't Laugh at Me," which elicited a roomful of laughs from the K-6 group.
Teachers on hand were as excited as the kids over Yarrow's presence and lined up to thank him for coming to the school.
"It was wonderful," Kevin Hesser said. "I think the kids really connect with the message. It hit a chord with them."
Contact Erin Mayes at emayes@uniondemocrat.com or 588-4539.
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Story Source: Union Democrat
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Figures; COS - Ethiopia; Insurance; State Politics
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