Zink the Zebra program, based on a book written by an 11-year-old cancer victim, teaches acceptance and compassion.

By Mary Thurman Yuhas - Special Correspondent

May 29, 2005

Squealing pre-schoolers surrounded Zink the Zebra when she paid a surprise visit to the Boynton Beach Head Start.

After she left, the children were given a small, spotted stuffed zebra to help them remember the lessons of accepting differences they had learned during the past five weeks in the Zink the Zebra program.

Center manager Lena Rahming says parents tell her their children talk about it, so she's bringing the program back next year. "It's wonderful," she said.

The Zink program began in 1997, four years after 11-year-old Kelly Weil of Milwaukee died from leukemia. Cancer treatment caused Kelly to go bald and other children wouldn't play with her, said Jeanne Cuddy, adult development manager for the Girls Scouts of Palm Glades Council.

Following Kelly's death, her teachers found the story of Zink in her desk and gave it to her parents. Zink is a spotted zebra who other zebras tease because she is not striped like them.

Kelly's father, Les Weil, was devastated when he learned how left out his daughter had felt, so he gave up his job to promote Kelly's book and set up the Zink the Zebra Foundation. It was so successful, Weil and the Girl Scouts of Milwaukee Area collaborated, and now Zink the Zebra is offered by Girl Scouts across the country, Cuddy said.

The Palm Glades Council offers the program throughout most of Palm Beach County, and teacher feedback is positive. "We find the teachers think it's a gift," Cuddy said.

The children are taught one concept a week for four weeks in classes that last an hour. Cuddy says they learn about acceptance, compassion, understanding and respect through stories, songs, crafts and puppets. They graduate the fifth week.

Lythia Thomas, a pre-K teacher at Delray Beach Head Start, says her children have enjoyed the program. "It's beautiful," she said.

Nai-Sha Kemp, 5, a Head Start student, and her classmates, Josi Rosales and Shayanne Jack-Louis, both 5, said now if they meet someone who is different, they would play with him or her.

Thomas said she has noticed the children aren't as pushy, and that parents have told her how pleased they are to hear their children using words such as please, thank you and welcome, which the program encourages.

The program is funded by a $15,000 grant from the Palm Beach Community Chest/United Way to the Girl Scout Council.

Longtime volunteer Mary Ann Paris, one of two paid facilitators for the program, and eight Girl Scout staff members take the program to public and private schools. Paris is an enthusiastic supporter and says she has a basis of comparison as someone who has been involved with the Scouts and diversity programs for more than 20 years.

"The children are in awe of this program. Watching the faces of the young boys and girls, it's wonderful," she said.

For more information, visit the Web site, www.zinkthezebra.org or call Cuddy at the Girl Scouts of Palm Glades Council in Jupiter at 561-427-0177.

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