Sofia Valdez, Future Prez
“Most people like good, but Sofia liked better”
“Sofia Valdez, Future Prez” is the newest story from author Andrea Beatty who writes about extraordinary children and all that they are capable of. Sofia and her Abuelo walk to school together every day. Unfortunately, he gets hurt at the landfill in their neighborhood, and Sofia has to walk alone.
Feeling frustrated, Sofia gets an idea and creates a plan to fix the landfill and build a park instead. Slowly, members of the community join Sofia’s petition and look to her to make it happen. But to change something that big would take a lot of courage, and Sofia isn’t feeling very brave. Will Sofia find the courage she needs to make her plan work?
This is a great book to begin a discussion of civic duty, and what it takes to bring the community together to do something good. It is also an excellent prompt for asking, “What would make a great president, anyway?” This is something many of us are talking about as we cast our votes in the coming election.
Sofia Valdez loves helping out the members of her community. She and her Abuelo rake leaves, walk pets and deliver food to their neighbors. She reminds us of some other well-known child and teen activists from around the world like Greta Thurnberg, Malala Yousafzai and Emma Gonzalez. All of whom, in our opinion, are exemplary leaders for our children to look up to.
Sofia’s determination and perseverance is something we should recognize and praise in our children. Children truly are the future and they will have, as all the generations before them, many challenges to face. Why not fill their minds with the idea that they are capable of change and creating a world in which they could thrive?
For Teachers
Politics in education is a slippery slope for us. While families don’t want us pushing a particular agenda onto students, education is inherently political.
What we choose to teach is an expression of what our culture deems important and what values we wish to pass on. The fostering of those values no doubt has an effect on the kind of society that develops as children grow older. It is unavoidable. However, it is possible to create an environment where children and teachers can examine their surroundings together in a productive way.
Be aware of your biases, check with colleagues for feedback, and always lift up your students’ values and interests. While it has become harder and harder to navigate our current political climate, this book simply asks, “What makes a good leader?” And that is a question on all our minds.
Some Things to Think About…
Discussion Questions:
What would you do if you lived next to a landfill or power plant?
What would you do if you had no parks or green spaces in your neighborhood?
What would you do if you had to travel to another neighborhood or part of town to buy groceries?
Activity Ideas:
Using Google Maps find which neighborhoods in your city have landfills, power plants, parks, museums, grocery stores, etc. Why do certain neighborhoods might have parks when others have landfills?
Define the characteristics that make Sofia a great community leader. How is she the same or different to other leaders you are aware of?
Take a walk in your neighborhood see what ideas you can come up with to help your community. Raking leaves? Bringing groceries? Leaving sweet notes or artwork in their mailbox?
illustrated by David Roberts
