Don’t say ‘you can’t’ at Franklin Early Childhood Center

“I can,” yelled the gymnasium full of students at the Franklin Early Childhood Center in Hewlett. They had just come inside from their “I Can” parade, kicking off the yearlong campaign the school started to empower the students.

Pre-K, kindergarten and first grade students carried worksheets that had either words or pictures that encourages to do things they like swimming, riding a bicycle or playing baseball. The crowns they wore were adorned with actions they could o to help others such as share or be kind.

Principal Dr. Lorraine Smyth shared how excited she was to have a chance to empower the students. “We want them to see that they can do things for themselves and that they can help others,” she said. “A lot of times, especially with the younger kids they say I can’t do that, I don’t know how. We want them to know they can do anything they set their mind to.”

After the parade, the children returned to their classrooms. Faculty members set the stage for Jesse Ruben, a singer/songwriter from Brooklyn to perform. He wrote the song “We can,” after running the New York City Marathon for the first time in 2010, and it’s become Franklin’s anthem for this campaign.

He travels across the U.S. and Canada as part of his We Can Project talking to kids, playing his guitar and singing “We can” as well as other songs. “I talk to them about giving back and taking on challenges,” Ruben said. “I didn’t learn I could make a positive difference in people’s lives until I was in my twenties. I think if I had learned that when I was five my life would have been different.”

Ruben has also performed on “The Today Show,” that’s where Carolyn Fader, a kindergarten teacher at Franklin first saw him. “As soon as I saw him I thought oh my gosh we have to get on board,” she said.

To prepare for the big day, the students also decorated the hallways with drawings of things they can do. “The kids seem like they’ve really bought in,” said Ruben with a chuckle. “They’re really excited.”

Fader said that in her classroom she makes sure that the children don’t say they can’t, either they can, or that they can’t yet. “Children should learn that there’s nothing they can’t attain,” she said. “They need to work hard and do their part, but if they do that they can pretty much do whatever they want as long as they never give up.”

It’s easy to see how these lessons have taken root with how loud the Franklin students were while yelling, “I can.” And according to Smyth even the staff can’t escape the campaign. “Even when an adult says I don’t know if I can do that they’ll yell you can, you can! It’s wonderful,” she said.