On March 3rd, we were invited to hear Chelsea speak at another all-girls school in Providence: Lincoln School. This event was part of Chelsea’s book tour for her latest young adult book, Start Now! You Can Make a Difference. About this opportunity, Head of School Maura Farrell explained, “She was coming to Rhode Island to talk about her book, and she was visiting a few schools including the Lincoln School, and since we have a great relationship with that school… they invited us!”
Over the course of her speech, she made clear her aim to empower young people and spread awareness of many different topics including: the sale of ivory, bullying, endangered animals, and actions you could do to make a difference in your own little community.
Sixth-grader, Jade, shared with us that she felt the information Chelsea shared was “very learnable” and also that Chelsea probably wanted Sophia students to join her at this event because she believed we can make a difference in the world too.
One really great benefit, according to Dr. Greene Nolan, was that every Sophia student was given her own copy of Start Now! to keep and, if they wanted, to read or skim a few days before the event. Many even brought their copy to the event. “I think it made the students feel really excited to have the book ahead of time, and I liked seeing students flipping through the pages learning about what other kids have done in their communities,” Dr. Greene Nolan said.
“I think being able to hear from somebody who is trying to inspire young people is really important for our students to hear,” Ms. Farrell told us. Then, she turned the question on us to ask what we learned, so we asked our 6th grade class (except people who were absent for the trip). We learned:
● ...that the sale of ivory has greatly impacted the elephant population, and that it’s still legal in Rhode Island. (Kayloni)
● ...that another simple thing we can do is when you go on the bus, the bus driver can turn off the bus while they’re waiting and turn it back on when they’re ready to go. (Valeria)
● ....about the Buddy Bench, and I liked that because when people felt alone at recess, people could come and talk to them on the Buddy Bench. (Gabriela)
● ...that animals have been suffering from fires and tornadoes and having no food and water. (Malazja)
● ...that there are simple things we can do to help the planet like taking shorter showers. (Lisbeth)
● ...that selling ivory is legal in many places and maybe illegal in some states. (Naomi)
● ...that one of the kids Chelsea talked about spoke to his school about having a Buddy Bench and now there are over 100 Buddy Benches around the world. (Yazlenne)
● ...that Chelsea gave us different ways to help save the planet, like just taking shorter showers. (Tailee)
● ...that a girl made her own clothing line (Flexing in my Complexion) to help her sister feel better about herself. (Jaila)
● ...that people are stealing ivory from elephants. (Sarah)
● … “the same thing as Sarah.” (Lissette)
● ...that Madagascar is a real place, and I also learned that a little boy who was 7 saved enough money to buy two years of hand sanitizer when the water was contaminated. (Jade)
● ...that they also take ivory from rhinos, not just elephants. (Jorlis)
Start Now! Book Review
The book Start Now! is what started everything. Start now! is a book by Chelsea Clinton. In this book, Chelsea talks about ways to make a difference. There are many examples in the book of kids doing simple things but making a big difference. Chelsea really tries to inform readers on what they can do to solve some problems that are happening around the world. She not only tries to inform us about the planet, but she also tries to make us more aware of bullying and how to prevent it. She lists things that kids can do to help others and stop bullying. Every chapter states a different problem that the readers can help solve. The chapters also list simple things that the reader can do to make a difference. Chelsea makes her book easy to read and tries to make her book interesting to kids. She does this by making chapter names fun and not using very difficult words. Through the book, Chelsea communicates that anyone can make a difference--maybe even us!
About Chelsea
Although she is most well known for being the daughter of Bill and Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton is an author and activist focused on working to empower children and teens to make small, positive changes to help their communities.
As a child, Chelsea was bullied herself, which is where she gets some of her inspiration to do this work. It’s why she is so passionate and so careful when it comes to talking about that subject specifically. For example, back in 2017, Melania Trump thanked Chelsea Clinton for standing up for her 11 year-old son, Barron. At the time, Barron was getting cyber bullied and Chelsea chose to stand up for him, because she didn’t want what happened to her happen to Barron. She wanted… change!