Berkeley woman's mission to promote child literacy through poetry marks 40 years
This week's Jefferson Award winner is a Berkeley woman who has promoted child literacy for four decades, as host of a community TV show encouraging young poets.
Sally Baker reads part of a poem, "The stars are glimmering, the leaves are ruffling..." She takes special pride in the book she compiled; the poetry is written by children.
"If you give children a chance to show them what they're capable of doing, it builds high self-esteem," Baker said.
She has empowered children aged 6 to 13 with reading, writing and communications skills through her free poetry nonprofit for 40 years.
The idea came from a bus ride.
"I sat behind two young boys, they were trying to read a newspaper. And they were having difficulty. And I thought, 'How sad. Those boys can't read the newspaper,'" Baker recalled.
So, to encourage childhood literacy, she created her own half-hour children's program, Wee Poets, on community TV in 1984.
Students recommended by parents or teachers recite their own poetry and get interviewed.
As host and producer, Baker also features adults with a variety of careers from a typewriter repairman to a pilot.
Baker has even recorded Wee Poets episodes in Jamaica and France with her director of 37 years, Adnan Touma, who passed away three years ago.
Today, executive director David Flores helps Baker record and edit two new Wee Poets shows a month at Berkeley Community Media.
He watches her bring out the best in the young guests who come into the studio.
"Sharing something that person in a public space can really be nerve wracking, and I think Sally does a great job putting them at ease," Flores said.
People can see the show on YouTube, Comcast, and Berkeley Community Media. Grants and donations fund the program.
More than 32,000 students have appeared on Wee Poets. Behind the cameras, hundreds more have learned TV production in a free one-year internship.
Berkeley High senior Amanda Jargalsaikhan, who is interested in film production, is grateful for the opportunity Baker's giving her to learn skills for her career.
"She's always a kind soul and brings in really cool people," Jargalsikhan said.
Charlie Carroll and his twin brother were interns in the 1980s. He said working behind the scenes at Wee Poets gave him a foundation for his future.
"That helped me get inspired to study communications and move forward with a career in teaching communications," Carroll said.
Years later, his daughter was a Wee Poets guest as a first grader.
And although Baker has received widespread recognition and numerous awards over the years, one of her most enduring and emotional memories is of a guest who touched her life, because she felt seen.
"She was so happy that she was able to be on television even though her little face was severely burned, her arms were severely burned. She always wanted to be a ballerina," Baker remembered. "That show touched me the most. I don't know what happened to that child. We gave her a chance to be a star on Wee Poets."
Baker, who is a retired administrative assistant at UC Berkeley's College of Letters and Science, says she hopes Wee Poets will continue for many more years.
"As long as God gives me the energy to do it, I'll do it," she laughed.
For empowering Wee Poets with self-esteem, writing, reading and multimedia skills, this week's Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Sally Baker.