Changing schools as a young student left Janellie Flores feeling unmoored, but reading books helped to lift her up.
Now a junior at Bremen High School in Midlothian, Flores wants to help other youngsters enjoy books while providing school supplies they might struggle to afford. A member of her school’s Circle Book Club, Flores organized a school supply and book drive that runs through this week to benefit students at Pilsen Community Academy in Chicago.
Flores, of Midlothian, is getting help from her fellow book club members and club sponsor Andrea Ignelzi, but she’s done most of the legwork for the project herself. She hopes area residents will join students and staff in donating books and school supplies.
She had the idea for the project a few years ago, but the pandemic and her transfer from John Hancock Preparatory School in Chicago to Oak Forest High School and then to Bremen got in the way.
“I would love to do something for an area that is more underprivileged in regards to materials or just students in general who are economically at a disadvantage,” Flores said. “Especially at Bremen, I’ve learned I’m really appreciative of what I have and I think all of us in the Bremen community are blessed with what we have.
“I kind of just realized we’re all here to help each other out and that’s what we’re supposed to do.”
She said she loves children and hopes to become a pediatric oncologist.
“I was like, what better way to do something for kids,” Flores said.
She contacted the school in Pilsen about her idea and has been in touch with one of the teachers there. She’s also set up donation boxes in Bremen’s library, main foyer and staff parking lot, which are filling up quickly.
The books and supplies are for students in kindergarten through eighth grade. She plans to deliver the boxes with the help of a few adults — likely her parents.
More Top Picks Best Clear Phone Cases
Flores transferred to Bremen at the beginning of her sophomore year and will be graduating this spring a year early with a 3.96 grade-point average.
Now seemed like the perfect time to revisit her appreciation for reading.
“I definitely had almost a bittersweet connection to books only because I moved so much when I was younger,” Flores said. “The only way I would kind of cope with the moving was reading. It helped me not think about things.”
She chose challenging books and poetry, and fun reads such as “Dork Diaries.”
Ignelzi, the book club sponsor who also teaches special education English, helped spread the word about the drive through daily announcements and posting signs. She also helped brainstorm the organizational details.
“She’s really spearheaded it herself,” Ignelzi said. “She’s an amazing young lady.
“For her to come up with this service project and seek out the adult support she needs and actually organize and execute everything — that’s a tremendous skill she’s been able to develop at school.”
Ignelzi said Flores has a knack for thinking through projects, and was friendly, positive and confident in the process. Flores also has participated in other service projects such as food drives, and started a club for transfer students.
Flores also volunteered at a day camp as a junior counselor and at an area library, helping kids learn to read.
“When she graduates from Bremen, we’ll be losing a great kid, but I think because of her influence on peers, hopefully she’ll inspire other kids to do the same things she’s tried to do,” Ignelzi said.
Janice Neumann is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.