Won't You Be My Neighbor?

The inspiring life of Fred Rogers

Happy 2021 Readers! :)

Today’s issue is close to my heart as I write about a role model of mine - Fred Rogers.

Fred Rogers is the television host, creator, songwriter and so much more of the show Mr.Rogers Neighborhood - a television show for preschoolers that ran from 1968 to 2001 in the United States. He tackled difficult issues for children like loss, grief, divorce and so much more. Read more

This is how his show would start (How I wish I watched it when I was a kid :) )

I first heard of Mr. Rogers when I came across these lines:

“What do you do with the mad that you feel
When you feel so mad you could bite?
When the whole wide world seems oh, so wrong...
And nothing you do seems very right?”

And I heard these lines when we watched a video of Mr.Rogers appearing before a Senate subcommittee in the USA, requesting more funding for public television. What was supposed to be a multi-million dollar budget cut transformed into something else entirely. To me, this video shows what happens when there are understanding and empathy in a conversation. If you watched just one video for all of 2021, this is the one I’d recommend.

The more you read and peel away at the life of this wonderful person the more you will begin to appreciate the value of authenticity, integrity, and honesty in the world.

To all the wonderful parents and caregivers who read this newsletter every week there’s one quote of his that blows me away:

Parents are like shuttles on a loom. They join the threads of the past with threads of the future and leave their own bright patterns as they go.

The power of children’s media in shaping who we become and what we normalize is immense. Here’s another example of Mr.Rogers progressive ideas

At the end of a year, we’re often struggling to justify the impact of our lives and I stumbled upon these wonderful impact facts of Fred Rogers’ Life on the WQED website.

Measuring Fred Rogers' Impact

10 1/2: The size of Mister Rogers' famous sneakers.

More than 24: Number of cardigans worn by Rogers over his career.

4: Number of Emmy awards won by Rogers.

8: The percentage of U. S. households that tuned in to "Mr. Rogers Neighborhood" at its peak in 1985-1986.

1: Number of times Rogers appeared on TV as someone other than himself. (He guest- starred as a preacher on "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.")

33: Number of seasons that "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" was produced.

25: Number of pages it would take to list all of the awards received by Rogers- including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.

More than 40: Number of honorary degrees awared to Rogers.

1,000: Number of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" episodes.

5: Age at which Rogers started playing piano.

200: Number of songs writen by Rogers in his career.

4: Number of times Rogers was on the cover of Pittsburgh Magazine.

60:Number of seconds of silence that Rogers asked for at speaking engagements inorder for audience members to remember those who have helped them become who they are.

I hope you are as excited about the new year as I am.

At Upepo I’m excited to hunt for answers to the following questions:

1. How can families and communities help children find their spark or their passion?

2. How can children identify peers and communities where people help each other scaffold and grow?

3. How can we create projects and learning experiences that children cherish and learn from?

4. How can all of this be done in a manner that it feels like - child’s play. Not the one that is trivial. The serious, everyday, world-shaping kind of child’s play.

Ending with a relevant Fred Rogers Quote :

Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.