Interview with Community Member: Ms. Denise Evans
BY: JOHANNA CONTRERAS
It was a true pleasure and privilege to connect with Denise Evans, Parent Coordinator at PS 287 and key member of the Brooklyn Book Bodega Community. Denise first met Seema and Rebecca at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where Brooklyn Book Bodega was hosting a book fair. Since then, Brooklyn Book Bodega and PS 287 have collaborated to bring books to the students at the school and have plans to continue that partnership. Read on for our conversation and why Ms. Evans supports Brooklyn Book Bodega!
Rebecca Cohen, Seema Aghera, and Denise Evans at PS 287 in March of 2020
How did you get connected with Brooklyn Book Bodega? My sister was one of the officers at Building 77 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where Brooklyn Book Bodega has its headquarters. One Saturday, she called me and told me that there was going to be a book fair and that there would be brand new books and an author doing a book signing. So I decided to walk over there. When I got there, there were a lot of people going in and out. They were set up with tables of books and volunteers, signing people in. All you needed was a bag to get books. I walked around, and I was like, wow, I like this. I walked over to a big cardboard box where people were dropping off books. I started pulling books out because I love to read, from a kid. I found myself like a child, picking out books, putting stuff on the side that I wanted to get for my grandkids. I got so caught up in doing that, I found that as people were coming toward me to drop off, they thought I was volunteering! I would turn around and see who was coming through the front door, and take the bags of books, and say thank you. I just started working! I met Seema and she was like, “Hi, how are you?” and I told her I’ve just been volunteering at the front door! From then on, we exchanged numbers, and after a while, I was sold out for Brooklyn Book Bodega.
So you are the Parent Coordinator for PS 287 near the Brooklyn Navy Yard! What kind of work has Brooklyn Book Bodega done with PS 287?
It started at the book fair. I walked over to the author who was there, who wrote a book about jazz. The author was reading, the children were all sitting around in a circle, and they were asking him questions. I was like Yo, I love this! I gotta get this man’s card. As the Parent Coordinator, one of my functions is to share community activities with my parents and students. I said, Oh man, these people gotta come to my school!
Somehow, me and Rebecca started speaking, and I said, Listen, you gotta come to our school. Every month at my school, we have a party for students from grades Pre-K to 5th grade to celebrate their academics and attendance. The month that we picked for Brooklyn Book Bodega to come to our schools was March 2020, and it happened to be March 13. Little did we know that it was going to be the last day of school. That Monday, March 16, everything was shut down.
So March 13, both of those ladies, Seema and Rebecca came to PS 287 with their boxes (and boxes and boxes) of books for grades Pre-K through 5th. We set up the gym with bean bags, tables, snacks, music...And the kids were in awe of the atmosphere. In our school, we have a beautiful Robin Hood library, and teachers have books in the classroom. Children have books, but I guess just the idea and the atmosphere we created for them through Brooklyn Book Bodega in that gymnasium that day was just so special that kids were getting 5 or 6 books! It just was such a festive time. And little did we know that that would be the last day of school. That’s my memory of them the first time they came. They were such a blessing. It was a new experience for our children.
What do you think is special about Brooklyn Book Bodega? What’s special about Brooklyn Book Bodega is the two ladies, Seema and Rebecca. Their spirit and what they brought to that school. And the way that the books were set up on the table, the whole atmosphere. The kids walked into that gym and heard that music and saw little bean bags all over so they could sit down and read books to each other, or lay on the gym floor, whatever the child wanted to do. It was a festive atmosphere -- it was like a feeling of learning, but it was a joy. And those two ladies, their personalities are inviting. It was a blessing, and I want them to come back. I already have set up my calendar for the school year, and they’re on my calendar. I’m pencilling them in, and they’re coming back to my school.
Do you have any advice for Rebecca and Seema going forward? Continue to be who you are. Continue with that same spirit, with that same love. They made me feel like I was the only school in District 13. I know that they must make those other schools feel the same way. I’m blessed; I feel so special, from being with this CBO. I’m just so blessed that they’re in my neighborhood, and they’re right across the street. Through them, I’ve met other people. The network with them is amazing.
To go on their website and see the other schools that they serve — it is above and beyond. They also work with the Ingersoll Community Center and associate with another organization, Friends of Commodore Barry Park, and supply them books. Honestly, I wish that there was some way that what they did for us on March 13, that they could go to all the schools in District 13 and do that same thing. I want them to be at PS 67, PS 307, PS 46, PS 20. I’m just that selfish, I want them for District 13! But I know they have to expand because that’s what God’s got for them. He’s gonna open some doors, and they’re gonna get some funding, and they are gonna blow up. When they do something over at that Brooklyn Navy Yard, those people come!