Kids say the funniest things. After spending nearly a decade in a kindergarten class, Grace "Pucciarelli" Bellomo can attest to that. Over the years, Bellomo collected some of the more humorous stories involving the kindergartners at the Guggenheim School in Port Washington, N.Y., a Long Island suburb.

When she retired two years ago, Bellomo, a member of the AFT-affiliated Port Washington Teachers Association, decided to share her stories by putting them in a book.

"I found such humor and joy in the innocence of children and the way they express themselves that I wanted to share that enjoyment with others," she says.

Her book, The Day We Killed the Pasta and Other Kindergarten Tales, was published this past spring and is enjoying brisk sales due to word of mouth, the author reports.

Bellomo spent 18 years as an educational assistant in the Port Washington School District. She started her career working with older students--fifth- and sixth-graders--and began working with kindergartners nine years ago. That's when Bellomo started taking notes on some of the clever comments her students would make.

"There were so many funny stories," Bellomo recalls with a laugh. One story--which led to the book's title--was the day her students dyed pasta for a lesson about American Indians. The children went home and told their parents that they killed pasta, a confession that prompted numerous calls from curious parents.

Bellomo, who also illustrated the book, spent two years getting her stories ready for publication. "I was hesitant about doing a book," she says. But she was encouraged by many of the teachers at her school, as well as by her family. Bellomo hopes that parents and teachers will read the stories and get a good laugh. She always does.

The book is available online at www.1stbooks.com/ and www.barnesandnoble.com/ or by calling 1/800-839-8640.
 

Help is just a call away
Security officer cuts crime with cell phone

not everyone loves cell phones. Even though more and more people carry them, there's a growing backlash against their intrusive nature in public places as well as their distracting and potentially dangerous use by motorists. Yet, without a doubt, they can be a powerful communications tool. Just ask Tom Smith.

Smith, a security officer at Grant High School in Portland, Ore., has been carrying a cell phone on the job for about eight years. Among other things, Smith has used his phone to help local police catch youths who were burglarizing homes near the school during the day, and he helped get medical help--by dialing 911 on the spot--for a student who fell into a deep window well on campus while playing Frisbee.

Those efforts earned Smith, who is also a vice president of the Portland Federation of Teachers, a "samaritan" award from the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association. One of 50 national recipients, Smith and his wife were treated to a four-day expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., for a gala awards ceremony and some sightseeing.

"The cell phone has really expanded my territory and what I can do, especially with nonstudents coming around," Smith says. "That's our biggest problem." In the past, when a suspicious character or even a student left the school grounds, there was little the security officer could do. But now, Smith says, he'll follow them through the nearby park and call the police if he suspects they're involved in selling drugs or some other illegal activity. "A cop will be waiting by the time they get to the corner."

At one point, a group of kids, some of them local dropouts, were hanging around the high school in the mornings. When the bell would ring, they would head out and burglarize homes in the neighborhood. Working with police detectives, Smith was able to observe the lawbreakers and guide police right to the driveways to arrest them in the act. His efforts helped shut down the organized criminal activities of a group of about a half-dozen youths.

Smith realizes the award makes him something of a poster boy for the cell phone industry. But, during the Washington trip, he was able to meet with his senator and local congressman--something he probably couldn't do as a private citizen. And he did get a kick out of walking onto the stage during the awards dinner and having a medal hung around his neck.