Who Is Nobody? – A District 7070 Partnership

The Rotary Club of Campbellford is funding the program in schools in the Trent Hills area.

The Who Is Nobody character education program is recommended as a literacy resource.

A doll without a face builds character in young people!

“Nobody” is going to teach pupils in Trent Hills respect for themselves and respect for others. And we can thank the Rotary Club of Campbellford for that.

They're basing their worth on whether other people like them or if they're wearing the right clothes— Kelly Clark, program founder

This club is funding the introduction of the Who Is NOBODY? literacy program into local classrooms. It’s a remarkable tool that encourages young people to get involved in good causes at the same time that it nutures their self-esteem and enhances their academic performance.

It all starts with a gingerbread-shaped doll that hasn’t any features. Children give it it’s character and in the process build their own.

Nobody is the brainchild of Kelly Clark, an elementary school teacher currently on a one-year leave of absence from the Toronto District School Board. “You see so many kids who have so much potential and unique qualities (who) try so hard to be the same as other people” she says. “They’re basing their worth on whether other people like them or if they’re wearing the right clothes.”
Usually it’s the “bully figure” among them who serves as an inappropriate role model.

To help other living things – people, animals or the environment— Kelly Clark, program founder

Typically each child in a classroom involved in the program is given Nobody to take home for a week. A student’s manual offers directions on how the child can take up a project “to help other living things – people, animals or the environment.” In doing this, the students get to add attachments to the doll that represent the community outreach project they have undertaken so that over the school year Nobody eventually becomes a Somebody who’s helped others, with the good deeds being recorded in stories and pictures that are kept in a scrapbook.

If you are interested in bringing the program to your area or wish to learn more about it, visit www.whoisnobody.com

This article was published in the Rotary District 7070 Literacy Conference Newsletter in September 2008