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The Pollyanna Reports, X
“Tie Tuesday!” This article reached out and really grabbed me. I decided to see if I could help Mr. Jackson as I have tried to figure out a good place for all the ties I accumulated over the years of wearing a suit and tie almost every day of my life for many years, as was expected in the years of the Paleolithic Age when I practiced law. Some details below; here are highlights from the article and the very touching video which accompanied it:
A Chicago teacher holds a weekly event called “Tie Tuesday” to teach his students how to dress professionally and “show them a different side of the world.”
“I’ve been at Dixon for five years,” Daniel Jackson, a second-grade teacher at Dixon Elementary School in Chicago, said in a video released by Chicago Public Schools (CPS), “and each one of my students has had the opportunity to learn how to tie ties but also show their own professionalism”
Every week, he holds an event called “Tie Tuesday” to give his students the chance to dress to impress and complement one another.
“Tie Tuesday is my favorite day of the week. Everyone comes to the second floor, and they’re like ‘let’s see what you’re wearing today,’” he explained.
He told Fox 32 that he learned how to tie a tie from his grandfather, and the tradition of having a scheduled day to dress up originated in his college fraternity.
“In college, I was reminded of how my grandfather taught me how to tie a tie. And I knew I wanted to teach other young men and women how to tie a tie just as I’ve done in our classroom,” Jackson said.
In the CPS video, students talked about why they enjoy the weekly custom.
I have just had a nice talk with Mr. Jackson and he said he would welcome any gently used ties of a length which could be worn by the young boys in his class.
For any who may be interested in helping out with Mr. Jackson’s class, the address is:
Mr. Daniel Jackson
8306 South St. Lawrence Ave.
Chicago, IL 60619
I will get the first shipment out to him shortly. He also said he had received calls from all over the country with the same offer, along with offers for financial contributions, and was most interested when I shared my idea of trying to start a “Tie Tuesday Tie Fund,” or some similar title, so this idea could spread to other schools around the country. I would most genuinely welcome any ideas anyone may have about such an effort and, of course, any offers of help in setting up such an initiative.
As I often sign off on these Pollyanna Reports, I must observe that there is no reason to give up on America as long as there are dedicated citizens like Mr. Daniel Jackson guiding and mentoring America’s children in such a supportive and solid way.
God Bless America!
Published in General
This feels key. One tends to feel very awkward when one is the only person in the joint wearing semi-formal business attire.
Late in life I’ve come to appreciate a neck tie. My struggle is finding dress shirts that don’t cut off circulation to my brain. Yes, I use collar-expanders.
Last time I wore a tie, it was to my Dad’s funeral.
Next time will be to a wedding, maybe, depends.
I do applaud Mr Jackson for his initiative.
I once took a busload of middle school-aged children to the holiday Boston Pops with a special guest appearance by John Williams conducting. The field trip took an enormous amount of organizing–just getting the 45 tickets at that time of year was a challenge!
At any rate, about a week before the trip, I sent out the permissions slips, and right away three moms called me in a panic:. “Why does my son have to wear a tie? He doesn’t have one.”
I said, laughing, “Well, let’s see. It’s Christmas. It’s Boston. It’s Symphony Hall. And it’s the Boston Pops. So, yes. :) But we can find a tie for your son somewhere. No worries.”
The kids had an incredibly good time, and five of them had never been to Boston. The lights were just magical for them. :)
As do I. And I applaud you, @jimgeorge, for helping out.
I’m happy to reblog the information, and/or post Mr. Jackson’s information on my own site to promote his efforts, and perhaps others can do the same?
Thank you very much for this note- I would so appreciate your reblogging the information and would hope that others who have their own blogs might see their way to do the same. At the risk of repeating myself from the post, but once in a while a human interest story like this grabs you and just won’t let you go and after I had my talk with Mr. Jackson I was determined to see if I could help his wonderful idea spread in the hope it would help so many other young people around the country.
If any who are reading this have any ideas of how to go about starting up a drive like this, please share them with me. My Lady commented when I started talking about this idea that this would be something like Go Fund Me, but the fund would be ties instead of money. A very apt analogy, indeed.
Again, merci.
What a beautiful story! Thank you!
Wish I would have known about this– I have a pile of ties I could have sent you!
What a special man and special teacher, in the very best meaning of the word. Thank you Jim George for sharing this truly inspiring story. Such handsome young gentlemen! The statements by some of the boys showed wisdom well beyond their years. Absolutely the best way of lifting up black men is giving them good examples when they’re boys. These boys are getting a good start in life! May it carry forward to productive and responsible lives.
I have a friend–a mother of boys–who sees her job as teaching husbands. In other words, teaching her boys to be responsible men and good husbands. They’re all grown and fathers to children now and, seeing them in action, she and her husband did a very good job. Seems like this teacher has a similar philosophy: his job is teaching the boys in his care to be good men. Applause!!!
Those kids are so CUTE!!!
Sorry. I know—I’m kind of shouting. But OMG!
I know! I saw that video and just KNEW (sorry) I had to do something– they are a fine bunch of boys and are so lucky to have a Mr. Jackson in their life as a mentor.
Oh good. It’s not just me!
Agreed, but there is something sad about that fact that school teachers need to teacher things kids should be learning from their fathers.
For the young, yes. As you get older and figure out that you will never be one of the cool kids, it tends to diminish your anxiety about fitting in.
This guy is gonna have to open up a used tie store just to keep up.
I, very sadly, agree with you wholeheartedly, which may be one of the reasons I jumped at the opportunity to send some ties up to Mr. Jackson — they went out this afternoon– to help out as the great probability is that some (most?) of those boys in the video do not have a Father in their life and, although I’ve said it before, they are so lucky to have a man in their life like their mentor, Mr. Jackson. A glimmer of hope for them; pray it is meaningful as their life unfolds.
Agree. Which is the exact reason I want to spread the idea to other cities, starting with my area here in the Florida Panhandle and the Pensacola area. Any ideas as to how to get that started?
NOTE to Administrators/Editors: I request that the video be opened up as it was in the original post as it is key to understanding how much this program means to the boys in Mr. Jackson’s class. Thank you for your kind attention to this request. Jim George
I moved the line with the Youtube URL out of the quoted block, and that seems to have fixed it.
Merci très beaucoup.