The Return of the • Sabin Blazers • Story and Pictures by

The Return of the
• Sabin Blazers •
Story and Pictures by
Students of Sabin Elementary School
*
The Return of the Sabin Blazers
This book is a gift from the
students of Sabin Elementary to the
children of New York City and all
those affected by the horrific events
of September 11, 2001.
Special thanks to the New York
Knicks and the Kips Bay Boys &
Girls Club, who worked to help
connect students across a nation,
bringing us all closer together.
Story and Pictures by
Students of Sabin Elementary School
Published by the Portland Trail Blazers
* September 11
Scottie Pippen sat thinking about the letter he had
received. The letter read:
Dear Scottie,
My name is Sean Jones. I am 8 years old. I go to
Sabin School. Do you remember visiting us last
year? I like to ride my roller blades. I have a problem. In my class the kids like to make fun of me
because I am ugly. They call me ugly and tease me
because my dad is black and my mom is white. I get
very upset when they tease me. Can you help me?
Thank you,
Sean
Derek Anderson was thinking about a letter he had
received the day before. How could he help the little girl?
Dear Derek,
My name is Anna Simpson. I play basketball in PE
and at recess. I am in fourth grade at Sabin School.
My favorite thing at school is dancing on the drill
team. It is so much fun.
But I have a problem. I used to live with my mom,
but she had problems and I had to go into foster
care with my brother. I miss my mom. Some kids on
the drill team found out that I am in foster care and
now they say mean things to me like, “nobody loves
you” and “you don’t even have a real family.” It
makes me cry. I don’t want to go to drill team anymore. What can I do to make them stop saying
those things to me? If you can think of any solutions
please write back.
Sincerely,
Anna Simpson
As Scottie was thinking about his letter, Rasheed Wallace
was reading this letter:
Dear Rasheed,
My name is Michael Larkin. I am a big fan of your
team. I am 10 years old and in the fifth grade
at Sabin. My favorite sport is basketball. I play it
every day at school. I like to watch the Blazers
games on TV.
I have problems with people who call me all sorts
of names and they even talk about my mom and
dad. It makes me mad when they say I’m doing
something and I’m not. I get so mad that I want to
hurt someone, but I don’t. I try to control my anger.
If I get angry and yell or fight I will get suspended.
Do you ever get mad like that? If you do I would like
to know how do you control your anger so that you
don’t yell loud or hit somebody?
Sincerely,
Michael
Derek decided to call his friend Scottie Pippen for advice.
While they were talking, Rasheed called in on another
line. Scottie said, “Hey guys, these kids need our help.
Let’s go back to Sabin and see what we can do.”
“Good idea,” Derek replied.
“Let’s see if Dale Davis, Bonzi, and Chris Dudley want to
come and help,” Rasheed said.
Scottie telephoned his friend, Ms. Hall, the principal of
Sabin. He told her about the letters and explained that
some players wanted to come with him to see if they
could help. Ms. Hall told him, “I think it’s a great idea.
Come on over. Only no pizza party this time!”
Scottie, Rasheed, Derek, Dale, Bonzi, and Chris
walked into Sabin School the next morning. The first
thing that they did was stop by the office to say hello
to Ms. Hall.
Scottie and Chris entered the third grade classroom and
a student yelled, “It’s Scottie Pippen!” The whole class
began to chatter. Mrs. Marshall, the teacher, smiled at
him and said, “Ms. Hall told me that you would be stopping by.”
Scottie said, “I came back to Sabin to help out a friend.”
He told the students about the letter that he had
received. The class became very quiet. He said, “I’m
looking around and I don’t see anyone ugly in this
room.” He added, “If anyone here is making fun of
someone or his parents, then that person has an ugly
attitude. An ugly attitude hurts other people.”
Chris said, “Think before you speak. If you wouldn’t
want someone to say something to you, then don’t you
say it.”
Rasheed talked to the fifth grade. “Someone in this class
sent me a letter because he has trouble controlling his
anger. Hey, I have the same problem, and I really
worked on it this year.”
A boy raised his hand and said, “It’s hard not to yell or
fight when you get really angry.”
“Sure it’s hard,” Rasheed said, “but if I lose my temper I
get thrown out of the game. Now that’s not a good
thing. I am a part of a team. I want to stay in the game
and play because my team needs me on the court.”
“Your class is your team,” he continued. “You need to
stay in school and not get suspended. When you feel
yourself becoming angry, remember that your friends and
family need you to be a leader and do the right thing.”
In a fourth grade classroom Derek spoke about his letter.
He told them, “Sometimes adults have problems and they
can’t take care of their children. It doesn’t mean that they
don’t love their kids.”
A boy said, “It must be really hard to not be with your
mom or your dad. I wouldn’t like that. I would feel lonely.”
Then a girl asked, “How can we help a friend who is in
foster care?”
Derek answered, “You can help by being a friend. When
you hear people saying unkind words, go stand next to
your friend. Ask the other kids to stop. If they won’t stop,
you and your friend walk away together. Your friend will
know that there are people who care about her.”
Dale and Bonzi found a second grade classroom where
the students were working on science experiments with
plants. They were having a great time until they heard
someone saying, “You can’t talk right. You must be stupid.”
A little girl replied, “I am not stupid! I am learning
English.”
Dale walked over to the girl who was ready to cry.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
“Carla,” she replied softly.
“What language do you speak at home?” he asked.
“Spanish,” she replied. “I am from Mexico.”
Dale asked the class, “Who here can speak Spanish?”
Carla raised her hand. “Hmm” he said, “Only Carla
can speak Spanish, does that mean that the rest of you
aren’t smart?”
“No,” said a little girl. “We never learned Spanish. We
speak English.”
“That’s right,” Dale told her. “Just like Carla learned
Spanish first and now she is learning English. If she makes
mistakes does that mean that she isn’t smart?”
“No!” answered the class.
The first lunch bell rang and the players decided to check
out the cafeteria. Derek stopped to help some confused first
graders find their lunch cards and was happy to see some
other students helping them too.
Dale and Bonzi watched as a student tried to cut in the
line. Then the student turned and saw them staring at him
and he walked to the end of the line.
Scottie, Chris, and Rasheed were in the cafeteria when
they heard someone complain, “Man I wish we didn’t have
to eat this stuff. I hate it!”
“It’s not that bad,” a girl replied.
“Yes it is,” the boy insisted. He then dumped his tray onto
the floor. The rest of the kids at his table just stared at him
for a minute. “You’re in trouble!” someone shouted. A
couple of students started to clean up the mess.
“Hey!” called Bonzi. “What do you think you’re doing?”
The boy stuttered, “I didn’t…I don’t…”
“You had no business throwing that food on the floor. I saw
you do it. We all saw you. Now some other people are
cleaning up your mess. Why should someone else clean up
after you? I think that you should clean up your own mess,
don’t you?”
The boy decided that it might be a good idea to start cleaning.
The Blazers grabbed some brooms and mops and helped
clean up the cafeteria.
Later the players went out for second recess with the
third, fourth, and fifth graders. Derek saw a group of students playing soccer out on the field. It looked like fun,
and so he decided to join them.
Chris walked over to watch a group of students
playing tetherball.
Scottie and Bonzi headed towards the basketball court
where a group of girls and boys were arguing instead
of playing. A girl rushed up to them shouting, “The
boys say that the girls can’t play basketball because
we can’t shoot!”
“Well, you can’t!” a boy yelled.
“Is that so?” Scottie replied. “I guess those Portland Fire
players don’t know that they can’t shoot.” He stared at
the boys.
“Well, those Fire ladies can shoot,” one boy admitted.
“Of course they can,” Bonzi said. “Anyone can learn to
shoot a hoop. It doesn’t matter if you’re a girl or a boy.
It just takes practice.”
“Why waste time arguing, when you could all be practicing and playing?” Scottie asked. “Let’s go!” He
grabbed the ball and took a shot.
Rasheed and Dale were watching an exciting game of
foursquare. Everything seemed to be going great until
a voice called out “Hey, Lisa, you were off the line—
you’re out!”
“No I wasn’t!” Lisa yelled back.
“Yes, you were!” a boy insisted. “You’re cheating!”
Lisa ignored him and tried to keep on playing.
“Cheater!” yelled another voice.
“You were off the line,” a very deep voice said.
Lisa looked up and saw Rasheed Wallace staring down
at her. “What fun is a game if it isn’t played fairly?” he
asked. Lisa didn’t answer.
“Everyone makes mistakes,” Dale said, “but if you cheat,
no one will want to play with you. Now, can someone
explain to me how to play this game?”
“It’s easy,” a little boy said, “here, let me show you!”
Out on the soccer field, the game was intense. “You
kicked me on purpose!” a boy yelled.
“I did not!” a girl replied. “It was an accident.”
“Forget about it,” someone said. “Let’s finish the game.”
“No!” the boy said, his face was red and he was really
angry. “She always does stuff like that.” He ran over to
the girl and began yelling at her, “You are just mean!
Your mama…”
“Whoa!” shouted Derek Anderson. “I don’t want to hear
any more yelling and I definitely don’t want to hear anything bad about someone’s mama or any family member.”
The children on the field became very quiet. “It’s really
disrespectful to talk that way,” a third grader said.
“Extremely disrespectful,” Derek agreed. “How many of
you would like someone to say something rude about
someone in your family? Raise your hand if you would
enjoy that.” No one raised a hand.
“Remember to treat other people with respect. Cut them a
break. If someone bumps into you figure it’s an accident.”
Derek told them. “Why get all angry about it? Let me ask
you this, what’s more fun getting all mad and yelling or
playing the game?”
“Playing!” all the kids cheered.
“Well then, let’s do it!” Derek exclaimed.
Recess was over and the Blazers were tired. They
decided to take a break and talk about their day. They
all agreed that they had a good time, but they wanted to
do more. “There are so many great kids here,” Scottie
said, “but some of them are having problems with
anger, and tolerance, and…”
“It seems to me that the problems all relate to respect,”
Derek interrupted.
“Maybe if we could talk to them about how important
respect is,” Rasheed said, “it would help.”
At 2:20 the entire school gathered in the gym. Scottie
began to speak, “We had another great day at Sabin!”
Everyone cheered. “We saw wonderful things happening in your classrooms, at lunch, and at recess. But, we
also saw some problems.”
“Hey we all have problems, no one is perfect,” Derek
said. “We want to help you think of some strategies to
make things better.”
Rasheed said, “It all boils down to respect. Let’s talk
about respect.”
Mama Malaika said, “Let’s all join together and say the
poem our third graders wrote on respect.” She led the
assembly:
“One of our PAWS Rules says ‘Show Respect.’ Yes, you
heard right! R-E-S-P-E-C-T”
R stands for realizing that I can make a
positive difference.
E stands for encouraging everyone I meet
to be the best that they can be.
S stands for showing my parents and
teachers how hard I can work.
P stands for peacefully working with other
students and my teachers.
E stands for eliminating intolerance and
rudeness at my school.
C stands for cooperating with my classmates,
teachers, and staff.
T stands for take this information and make
Sabin a great school by acting on it!
The
Portland Trail Blazers presented the students of Sabin School with
an exciting challenge last year: develop a storyline, produce illustrations, and publish a book. The
Sabin Blazers is the product of that challenge. It deals with
the excitement generated when celebrities visit an elementary
school. This year the Blazers asked the students to write a sequel.
We knew that we wanted to create a storyline with more depth, one
that illuminated real problems occurring at urban schools. We began
planning the book at the end of last summer. After September 11th, came
the unimaginable tragedy that left the children asking “Why?”. Of course
there are no simple answers, but at Sabin, we tried to help students cope with
the aftermath. Our discussions always returned to the issue of respect. If you
respect others you don’t hurt them. Respect means tolerating differences.
Respect means letting petty, hurtful feelings go. The theme for our sequel was
established: respect. Under the guidance of Michelle Sullivan, Library/Media
Specialist, the students developed and wrote a story based upon how respect
and disrespect look in an elementary setting. Christopher Lamp worked with
the students to develop the illustrations. Each page presents a different
motif. A motif is defined as any figure or design used either as a central
element in a work or as a repeated element used to create a pattern.
The motifs found on each page of the book are students’ works
inspired by cultures from all over the globe, past and present.
Thanks to other Sabin staff members Joan Marquis and
Rhonda Amatore for communications and special
assistance, and Deadra Hall, principal.
BRYANA • BRIAN • MICHELLE • ANDREW • CARL • JONATHAN • DEVIN • TAYLOR • ISAIAH • JESSICA • ROBERT
• HENRY • ROSEMARY • SHENELLE • JEROME • JOSEPH • XAVIER • MICHELLE • MICHAEL • DASHANAE •
TANISHA • CIERA • DESHAWN • KENDRA • CEDAEJIA • IVAN • ERIC • KAELOB • JESSICA • YOLANDA • CARMEN •
ANDREW • OLIVIA • SHANIQUA • ANTOINETTE • AYSHIA • MECHEL’LE • LAUWREN • MARIA • MARCELLUS • ANDREA
• BRYAN • DIAMOND • NIAJMA • JEHAN • AMBER • RANISHA • LARONE • KEVIN • SALMINIO •
TERENCE • SYDNEY • AREANNA • LEONARD • JOANNA • MIA • AZURI • AATIKA • MIAYA • NICOLE •
MARQUICHA • TREVOR • ALICIA • JAYME • EUGENE • CHARIAH • BRYNDON • ANDREW • LATIA • DECLAN • DONTA
• JASMINE • SAMANTHA • DANIELLE • JAQUES • BRUCE • EMANUEL • JORDAN • JAMECIA • CHELSIE • BRIANA •
KALEB • AIDA • TERRANCE • TEONDRE • SHAVONNE • AVALON • TIOSKA • AUSTIN • JOERONTE • JOSEPH • DAJUAN
• SHALISA • SHANNON • SHAQUANA • MARKUS • CIERA • ABRIA • PENI • ANDRE • ORIMAR • GEORGIA • TIERRA •
ASHLEY • MARCEL • WARREN • DAEDREONNA • MAYA • DIANA • RASHAY • MIRIAH • MICHAEL • CECELIA •
JONATHAN • JOSHUA • REBECCA • JADE • LAUREN • CASPER • JASMINE • MARIA •
ZULEIKA • RUSSELL • JOMEISHA • BRANDON • LOVIE • ARTHUR • CHARLES • LANE • EDGAR • AUSTIN • KAELEB •
DEVON • JOCELYN • SERGIO • CHARLENE • JAROME • EUGENE • DARRYL • PATRICIA • DAVONTE • DAISEY •
DIONNA • ANTOINETTE • JAYLEE • KAREN • HEAMASI • BRITTANY • ATRECIA • DELORES • JOSE • SEQUOIA •
CHANTELL • DEVONTAE • RAKESHIA • DEVON • KAMERON • MATTHEW • EPIPHANY • MARK • LIMIHAI • ERNEST
• CHRISTOPHER • TONIA • KIERRA • LUIS • TOBY • SONJA • AHMANA • BRITANNY • IZEAR •
ELIJAH • MARSEL • CYNESSE • NATASHA • NASCHE • QUIRA • KATELYNN • RASHAE • LARAIN • CURRAN • KYA •
MARCELL • ELMER • JOC CRYSTAL • KENIN • CHRISTOPHER • MARC • ETHAN • SAVON • BRIANNA • EZEKIELL
• OLIVIA • NADJA • TIMOTHY • SHAKEIA • REBECA • AUTUMN • NATHAN • AUDREY • MALIK • JOLICIA • TAELOR
• MALIK • JOSE • RUSTY • ZACHARY • SHAKYLA • JAQUELA • KAYLA • ELIZABETH • VICTOR • ANIA • SYDNE
• DEQUAN • ROBERT • HI’SHALE • LESLIE • NAMON • NIKOLAI • RASHAAN • MAYA • TAYLOR • ALEESA • SHAWNDRAE
• DEANJERNELL • EXIE • JADE • DEJAVONTE • ERICKA • ELLY • VINCENT • JERRAE • TYONNA • KEYANA •
CHRISSANDRA • ROY • DEBORAH • A’DAZIA-GAYE • DEONTE • LANISHA • ZAYDA • GABRIEL • DOROTHY • JONELL
• BEVERLY • NAZEEH • KELSIE • JAQUAN • JALEAN • MARIAH • JEREMIAH • OMARI • BRANDON • KARIO • AKAIYA
• KATELYNN • JAIDA • DOMAJIAN • JOHN • HELEN • DAICHELLE • SIOELI • TIARI • LAURA • MALIK • LEANDRE •
ANGEL • SHAKIELYA • ALEXANDER • ALERIONNA • DEYANIRA • TENZIN • TAYLOR • ELIZABETH • TYSHA •
FELICIA • TOSHA • CARL • ANGELICA • LANCE • SHABRIA • TATIYANA • DEVAN • REBECCA • DANIELLE • TOREN •
DEIONDRE • CHAZMYNE • PHAROAH • ROBERT • KISANET • JUSTICE • JOHNKIA • SILAS • ARMANDO • TRASHAWN
• BRIANNA • MONIQUE • MATEEN • JAVANTAE • DAVID • MICHAEL • DEMARCUS • TASHAI • HENRY • JACK • ISAIAH
• DENISE • JIANNAH • SIONE • DAITRELL • LAPHAEL • AIRIQUE • VICTOR • RYAN • SHAWNDELL • TREOSHA • LESLIE
• ANNALISAH-EILEEN • MATTHEW • ALAN • AARON • RILEY • MAXFIELD • YUKI • JEWNISHA • EMI • SHAWN •
KEVIN • MAKENZIE • OWEN • ANDREW CALEB • MERRIL • RAUL • JOHNATHAN • GARRETT • TOM • JOSEPH