THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 4, 1994 TAG: 9408030136
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 17 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SHARON LaROWE, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
During the summer it's often difficult to steer kids toward productive activities. Learning Bridge, a six-week educational program, is meeting and exceeding that challenge.
Recently, 45 Learning Bridge students swarmed into Operation Smile International's Boush Street headquarters to learn about OSI activities, tour the facilities and help out with special projects.
Learning Bridge instructor Seth Eilberg, a junior at Haverford College, said, ``Various organizations provide us (the Learning Bridge program) with support, financial. . . and academic resources.'' For example, individuals provided about 60 tickets for the kids to attend the Tidewater Tides game after their OSI visit.
``This program is really about getting the students excited about learning,'' a Norfolk State University sophomore said.
During their visit, the youths learned how OSI, a non-profit medical service organization, provides reconstructive surgery to indigent children in the United States and worldwide.
Kathy Magee, co-founder of OSI, showed the youths photos and told stories of her personal experiences with Operation Smile.
The children grimaced as she displayed a ``before'' picture of Jose Villegas, who lived with the personal agony of a massive tumor on his chin until he met the doctors of Operation Smile. Magee didn't show the children his ``after'' picture. They would meet him in real-life that afternoon, tumor-free, when he came to sing to them ``You've Got a Friend.''
The group then heard from Barbara Boneur of the Dental Clinic, who aids OSI volunteers in teaching others about dental health. Armed with a king-size toothbrush and matching set of choppers, Boneur showed the children the proper way to brush their teeth, teaching them a song to the tune of ``This Old Man.''
``Brush your teeth
``Twice a day
``Keep that ugly plaque away
``Up and down and all around
``Then you'll smile and never frown.''
After orientation, the students were split into teams and put to work in and around the office.
Teams filled ``smile bags'' with toys and personal hygiene products for future patients, put together direct mailings and weeded the grounds outside the building.
Learning Bridge teacher Seth Eilberg had suggested the OSI trip.
``What we were really trying to do was show the kids that there are always people less fortunate than us,'' he said.
Eilberg hopes the Learning Bridge students understand that while it's not fun to go without expensive tennis shoes or a second car, there are people in the world who have no material goods and are afraid to leave their homes because of unsightly facial deformities.
This lesson hit home with 10-year-old Robbie Parsons, a sixth-grader at Lake Taylor Middle School. Parsons pushed through the crowd of children heading for the bus that would take them to a Harbor Park baseball game. Then he pressed the two dollars he had planned to buy snacks with into the program director's hand.
``Here, you need this more than I do,'' Parsons said. by CNB