November 22, 2007

Key to reading

Almaden Branch dedicates Doris Dillon Children’s Library

By Carol Rosen
Editor

Most of us remember one or two special teachers from our years in school. But in Almaden, a large number of parents, colleagues and students remember their association with educator Doris Dillon, who had a profound and very positive affect on their lives.

So it is quite fitting that the Almaden Branch named its children’s library for this Almaden resident who provided the key to reading and education for several decades to Almaden students.

There were few dry eyes among the more than 100 adults and children attending the Nov. 17 dedication ceremony. Those who knew her and had been touched by her career reminisced and those who didn’t felt the loss of never having met her.

Pat Dando, former city council member and current president and CEO of the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce, was there to talk about her friend and the former teacher of both her sons. Noting she had met Ms. Dillon more than “two decades ago,” Dando recalled volunteering in her classroom.

She cited the educator’s special gift. “There were no such things as rainy days, they were flying popcorn days. She would take simple things and turn them into wonderful things… She believed that you must value life’s treasures, that you should experience new horizons and take risks, that there was so much sunshine to gather and she always believed in fighting for a cause.”

Family friend and mentor Elaine Gould praised Doris Dillon as “an enchanting eloquent woman, a model citizen and an exemplary teacher.”

But it was a speech by Elaine Gould, a master teacher and family friend, who was the teacher Dillon student taught under, that brought the woman to life for those attending.

“Doris was an exemplary teacher in the San Jose Unified District, where she functioned in many capacities: classroom teacher, reading-media specialist, resource teacher and mentor to countless young teachers. She delighted in introducing students to the world of literature. Because of Doris’ leadership and extraordinary influence on thousands of young people in the Almaden Valley, it is entirely appropriate that the new children’s library in this community where she lived and worked be named for her.”

Gould went on to describe Dillon’s early years, especially focusing on her desire to become a teacher and librarian. Dillon, Gould said, was helping out in the library during her fifth and sixth grade years and pretending to be a teacher to her dolls and pets.

Dillon would dress her pets when playing school which led to her dressing “literary characters for her students,” and dressing up media centers to make them exciting places for students.

Dillon’s career was full and shows the intelligence and excitement she brought to her work. She graduated from San Jose State and taught in the UCLA Demonstration School in Los Angeles and then developed the program and facility for the first public school kindergarten in Baltimore.

When she and her husband Gary returned to San Jose, she taught in a number of elementary schools including College Park, Grant, Canoas Gardens, Henderson, Williams and Graystone. Dillon also was active in a number of community groups including the Almaden Valley Women’s Club and Friends of the Almaden Library.

The Almaden Business Association presented an oversized check to library officials. The $5,235.50 was raised at the group’s second first annual Texas Hold’em tournament held the weekend before.

Among her achievements, she served as SJU district mentor program for new teachers; she designed a student teacher/master teacher course at San Jose State. Outside the classroom she consulted and wrote for book and magazine publishers including Time, Scholastic, Creative Classroom, California Reader, Chronicle Books, Little John, Grolier, Addison Wesley and others. She also worked with museums, some close as the Almaden Quicksilver Museum and others far away, such as Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia.

Among her numerous other activities she was appointed as the vice chair for English/Language arts on the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards in Washington, D.C.

While she received numerous awards and honors, the one that touched her most was when Columbia University Teachers’ College in New York established the Doris Dillon Center in her honor. The center supports new teachers and helps keep them in the classroom through using new technologies. It works with school districts throughout the United States.

“Pat Cloherty, a venture capitalist who contributed millions to the center, said its purpose was to be ‘a Doris Dillon cloning machine,’ to reproduce the best teaching practices and mentoring skills that Doris had developed in her career,” said Gould.

“What a legacy Doris has left in the hearts and minds of so many and, also, in this beautiful new children’s library and sculpture garden. And, what a spectacular tribute they are to the little girl who loved to play teacher,” said Gould in her conclusion.

Bret Harte seventh grader Emily Lee receives an award for her bookmark, which won first place in the sixth- through eighth-grade category. City Councilmember Nancy Pyle presented the award.

City Councilmember Nancy Pyle, herself a former teacher, also spoke to the group and presented awards to the children who had won the bookmark contest. Pyle commented on what a wonderful day it was, given that Dillon’s legacy was matching kids to books.

Winners received a certificate, a bag with art supplies and a book. Those taking honorable mention received a certificate and a book. Hannah Wang, a second grader at Williams, won in the kindergarten- through second-grade level. This was her second consecutive win. Honorable mention went to Athena Diaz and Ashkum Asefirad.

Winners in the third- to fifth-grade category were Andrew Yang, a fifth grader at Simonds, and Isaac Cinquimi, a fifth grader at Almaden Country School. Emily Lee won the sixth- through eighth-grade category with Sonia Avlani and Grace Linh winning honorable mention.

The session ended with financial gifts to the library from the Almaden Women’s Club, which held fund-raisers and Michelle Correa handed head librarian Pam Crider two checks. The Almaden Business Association (ABA) also presented an oversized check to Crider and other library officials. The $5,235.50 was raised at the group’s second first annual Texas Hold’em tournament held the weekend before.

ABA President Rich Crowley told those attending the money was for additional library programs for all the kids in Almaden.