Episode 15: Mary Manz Simon

Mary Manz Simon 0:09
Welcome to Redbird buzz. I'm Rachel Kobus from alumni engagement. Our guest today Dr. Mary Manz Simon holds a bachelor's in elementary education from Illinois State. Dr. Simon began her career in an elementary classroom and as she grew as a children's book author, she created a global classroom with books available in 12 languages. Her career also included developing family viewing guides for the Berenstein Bears, crafting Dry Erase products for Crayola, and writing licensed titles for DreamWorks. She was also friends with Fred Rogers and consulted for his popular TV show and the major motion picture A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. Dr. Simon is a recipient of the Alumni Association Service Award and a College of Education Hall of Fame inductee.

I'm excited to have 1969 College of Education alum, Dr. Mary Manz Simon. So Mary, what's the word, Redbird? Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Well, thank you, Rachel, this is wonderful to be with you today. Yeah, I graduated from Illinois State, as you said in 1969, El.Ed. grad, I also student taught in library science. So I had a major in library science also, which allowed me to be certified as a school librarian. So books and teaching have always been right from the start really important. I began my career in the River Forest public schools, which was a terrific place to start. Because they were so ahead in education, they offered a four year old kindergarten program, in addition to the five year old program. So my very first year of teaching, I got to teach in a front edge kind of educational setting. There, you know, seeing that early childhood background, which I loved, and it was so different, because at that time, there were 70 applicants for the job that I got, [oh my gosh], it was very different from the teacher shortage that we have now. Yes, but I love teaching four and five year olds. After I did that for a few years. I went back and got my master's from Erickson Institute of early childhood education, which meant my degree was from Loyola in Chicago. Yep. So I got my masters from Loyola. Then I went and had a wonderful season of teaching full time on the faculty at Northeastern Illinois University. It was a great time because we have nine full time faculty members in early childhood. So those were people who appreciated developmentally appropriate education for very young children, just like I did. And it was especially neat because I got to supervise student teachers. And that included going back to the school that I graduated from Newton Bateman public school, a public school in Chicago, and I had a student teacher there that had to be supervised. I got to go and do that.

Rachel Kobus 3:23
That's fun. I love it. Yeah,

Mary Manz Simon 3:25
after that, I was gonna get married, and we were going to live in St. Louis. And I could not find a job that really was a good match for me. So I worked at a publishing house for a couple years. And that was a great background. Because when I graduated from ISU, one of my goals was to publish in a new magazine every year. Okay, so my first year of teaching when I was in River Forest, I published an instructor magazine, it was just a little teacher idea. It was a bulletin board idea. But that got my name in print, and I liked that. And then the next year was Grade Teacher. And the next year, I had a column every month in Creative Teacher. And it just kind of went on like they asked nicely. I had a little bit of publishing background. When I came to work as an in house editor. I did that for a couple years. But I really missed education. And I decided I would go back for my doctorate. I had been getting some pressure to get my doctorate when I was at Northeastern, and I wasn't ready, and that was the right decision at that time. I needed more seasoning in the real world. [That makes sense.] And when I went to St. Louis University, to interview with the person who was making decisions on the Graduate School entry, I ended up walking out with a job--teaching Their first early childhood class at St. Louis University. So five years later, I had taught early childhood at SLU. I had earned my doctorate. And then I had some babies. And I had three children in three years. Yes.

Oh, wow. Yeah. So

it was a very busy time. Very supportive husband, to whom I've been married for 48 years. So I owe a lot to him. But during that time, I did start writing, and I wrote for our children, so that we would have something to kind of close out our days. And that became my first book. It performed well. And the rest is kind of history. I mean, 3 million books later.

I know, I love it, you're amazing!

But that doesn't even include the foreign languages. You know, I've, I've lost count. But it's been an amazing journey. You know, when we think of a teacher, we think of a classroom. Yes. When I went to school, it was the desks bolted into the floor, right. But as a teacher, I have had so many different audiences and different students, whether it was on the radio show, or at conventions, where I was a speaker. I've had all these different kinds of people who could learn from me, and I could learn from them. And that's the whole thing about education. It's very much a two way street. So as long as I am doing things I am continuing to learn. And that's exciting. Even at my age. Yes.

And I was gonna say, and I think that's why you make such a an amazing Redbird alum, because I know Illinois, State lives by that you should always be, you know, gladly we learn and teach, I think we should always be learning we should always be trying to teach others. And Mary, you very much lived by that just your whole career. I mean, we'll talk more about it. But you very much are that two way street; So I'm glad you said that. Thank you.

Yeah. And you know, what, ISU did was provide a culture for learning. And it's kind of a background that envelops you. And that's really, really important. I was fortunate to grow up with educated parents. My dad had a doctorate. My mom's my mom almost finished her doctorate. She was ABD. Oh. Which is probably why I have to finish plant physiology. All right. But I had people who really surrounded us with books and learning of all kinds, not just in a classroom, because there's so much more to education. A classroom is a great start. Yeah, but I think we've seen as we've gone through so many things recently, that there's a whole lot more. And it really is when we deal with the whole child or the whole student.

Yeah, no, I completely agree. So yes, and I want to talk a little bit more, I think you know about your children's books and how you've gotten books in front of people, in like you said, so many different ways. You started as, basically you've answered half my questions, Marian, so So I think we're done. Just kidding!

Oh, we have a lot. Well, we

We are you Mary is a fascinating Redbird everybody, but so you you started, like you said, as a kindergarten teacher, and then transitioned into publishing and whatnot. So what sparked you, though, to say, I want to be an author of children's books? And then how did that go? This concept of authoring one book into now having them available in over 12 languages and having a global classroom basically. So you took a very different path as an educator, how did that come to be?

Yeah, I really did and my path as an educator, there are a couple little points that I just want to make, too. After I got my doctorate, I'd been in higher ed for a while, and I missed the honesty of young children. So I started a preschool program for district 181 In Illinois, and did that for four years. And I know people probably wondered, What is this lady with a doctorate doing with four year olds, but when you teach students it's such an honest kind of relationship. And I needed the honesty and the truthfulness of four year olds who would tell me exactly. So one of those programs was a gifted program, it was for students who are identified as gifted, had a team of psychologists--was a great kind of thing. But all of that kind of fed into them what I was going to do in writing. I actually did not intend to write a book, oh, I after writing a doctoral dissertation--what an awful experience. I never wanted to write another, anything that would be published, but our kids needed it. And that's a really important point for anyone who wants to be a writer, that the strongest publications are those that come out of needs. And if you're truly meeting a market need, your product will probably do pretty well, as long as you have everything else surrounding it. So I started writing, but more than that, it was also wrapping it in media. It was speaking at conventions, I've spoken in all the major convention centers in the country. I've spoken to audiences of 5000 people, as well as groups of 20. It doesn't mean that one is better than another. It's just a different audience. So I think that's important as we look at what makes a successful person. Yeah, not necessarily the numbers. It's the impact you're going to have for the people with whom you're interacting.

Yes, completely agree. So

I was writing, I was speaking, I had a incredible travel schedule. I'm a million miler on American. And I remember, I was so excited when I got my gold card forever. Radio shows, yeah, my radio show was on almost for 15 years and over 300 stations. So it's a long reach. So when you get those kinds of media enveloping you, it's easier to get your--your name is already out there. And it's easier to do things with the larger companies. And so I did things like I worked with Walden Media, on Charlotte's Web. I don't know if you can see, these are some of the things I did for there. I worked with Sony home entertainment and the Berenstain Bears. And I have one sticking behind my head,

love it,

Crayola, and Crayola was really fun because I got to do the dry erase stuff. And I've got a whole stack of stuff here. But little cards. And what's neat here is that all this stuff includes education, in the purest sense of the word. It's like activities for kids to do. And then they can just, you know, dry erase-- fun, fun stuff, not just for children, but also for their parents.

And their families. Yes.

Because I really feel that when you're teaching, you're not just teaching the child, it is a child in a family setting. And hopefully, you are reaching not just one generation, but two generations. That's why doing kids stuff is so exciting. Whether you're a teacher in the classroom, or writing things, you're really reaching more than one generation. So it's, it's tremendously motivating for the teacher. Yes. And in this case, it was me. So I really had fun doing all that stuff. Um, I worked with the Prince of Egypt movie, Yes, so, um, that was a great experience. Because that was that came before VeggieTales. Right, and some of these other things that I've worked with. And that gave me a good background, you know, of what Hollywood really is, is like, um, so that's kind of how I got into all that stuff. It just all kinds of it kind of is one after another, and you never know exactly what's going to happen. But I think it's important to go through the doors that are opened, and make sure that you're always grateful for the ones that open. So doing those regular things of saying thank you, and just following up with basic kinds of polite courtesy kinds of stuff, the stuff that is, you know, comes with the, the virtues and the values of Central, of Central Illinois. Yes,

yes. Taking her values anywhere. And it worked me Yes. Like you said, your values have to be true. And you take them wherever you go, and you're going to do good work because of them. So that is very cool. And I have to add you saying like how you've affected generations. Now having a toddler myself, I love all that, you know, reading books with him and being able to draw and create and watch him. I get to do that now again, too, as an adult, where you only got to do that you thought as a kid, but you're right, as a family, as parents and siblings, grandparents, you get to relive and be educated in new ways and have that creativity and critical thinking skills you really don't think about using some days. So it's because of people like you, Mary. Right. That's, that's amazing. So I'm glad you brought that up.

Well, it's a bonus that we don't anticipate, you know, as we get older. Now we're doing that with our grandsons we have five grandsons so to be able to do this all again I just sent Luke a note about have you read Across Five April's he's reading historical fiction, a wonderful book--And what about Johnny trumaine? All those things that I learned about in my lit classes that is you come back on another generation? Oh, that's really kind of fun. Yeah,

is it what else is fun is you know you kind of quickly but Mary named dropped a lot but her Charlotte's Web and Berenstain Bears and Crayola I know there's other you've worked with American girls, you You've done so much, in children entertainment. And I wrote down I was read a little more about the way you work when it comes to corporations having your skills in this practical perspective, and helping the everyone develop their framework. So how do you go into these corporations and work with someone like Crayola, American Girl, DreamWorks, and make sure that the product is what you want it to be? And it's going to use that practical perspective, I guess, is what I've read. Yes, it makes sense.

Well, actually, as an author, or as a consultant, I'm a very small piece of the pie. It's so interesting that people think an author has a lot of power. But even with so many books sold, I don't I come up with the content. I have the you know, the creative start, I do the writing, but then it goes to all these other talented people. So I am just one of a team of people who some of whom I never meet. I don't meet the people who are the front liners in a store selling my books. Yes, that's true. I don't often meet the illustrator of my books. I don't meet the person, sometimes who writes the title of my books. I, I've long ago gave up trying to title a book, because I know it's gonna change anyway. So why bother? I just put five ideas in the proposal. They're gonna do what they want, anyway. Okay, but an author is a very small piece of the pie. And I think that all these people who are self publishing today, don't really catch on to that until they see that publishing has a lot of elements that we aren't in control of. I've been really fortunate to work with terrific people who really respected the content. And I think when you're developmentally appropriate for kids, they're going to respect that too, because they know it's right for kids. It's not the pencil and paper type of stuff. It's the stuff that really matters, the social and emotional times of growth. As you mentioned, the higher levels of critical thinking, analysis, synthesis, evaluation, those kinds of skills that we are going to need in the future for future generations. Whether you're a millennial or Gen X, or Gen Z, whatever, yeah. Those are the kinds of skills we need that, that type of thinking, those executive functioning skills, and that's what we do in early childhood. Those the foundations that we lay, and everything builds on that. Love it. So it's exciting to be in education. Yes, even if I'm not in the classroom,

well, you educate and like you said in so many different ways. So thank you. And you saying that I know I have to jump into this, I don't want to run out of time without bringing up that you have many I know a lot of projects you've worked on that you're proud of. But one that stuck out to me was, again, sharing education and helping and creating friendships with other educators, other TV personalities, specifically, Mr. Fred Rogers. So Mary, can you talk a little bit about this relationship you you've created with this beloved television character and how that led, I believe, into you even being able to consult for the recent movie? It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood because of it.

Yeah. And I was in Pittsburgh for the opening. Oh, yeah. Which was great. Because David Newell, one of the people with whom I'd worked with years earlier on Fred's team, I got to connect, reconnect with him. The time with Fred was really wonderful. This is my trolley,

or she has an actual trolley for Mr. And for those that can't see, it's the trolley from Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood.

It says on the top of it, "For Mary, with gratitude and affection from your friend, Fred Rogers." So this is one of my, you know, really valued possessions. But you know, even more than that, Rachel, it's the letters that I have from Fred. I have stacks of letters. Yes.

Wow. Yes,

From Fred. And they're personal, you know, we talk about brands personalizing their message today. Fred was all over it. I mean, these letters, ask about our kids--by Name. This was Fred Rogers. Yes. He really was as authentic and real as he appeared on the screen. He would listen, he spoke in a very slow cadence. And I thought that Tom Hanks did a really good job of capturing that in the movie. But I think that was because he was giving the other person in the conversation the time to that he could really listen and process and that he wouldn't jump in. Fred would never interrupt, he would always pause. And so often when working with children, or even adults, we jump in.

Yes, you're right,

Fred would never do that. So that's, he was certainly the most inspiring person with whom I've ever worked. And that's not discounting anyone else. But it's interesting that when I'm interviewed, people look at my website and see what I have on there about Fred. And that's what they want to talk about. I'm one of them. And I've often wondered, why is that because there's a lot of other stuff on there is there is--like it was the character values. It was the virtues that he espoused years ago, those are never going to go out of date. Kids will always to learn truthfulness, and land open those that Fred really stood for. And to this day, his image still does. Yes. So that was one of the most exciting things of everything that I've done. But I have to tell you, one of the other exciting,

please, please,

all the different kinds of languages. You know, it is so exciting and it's kind of, it's very humbling to have a book. And like, I know that my name is on this cover, or I think it is, but it's in Arabic Yes. So I can't read it. This is Indonesian. And I think my name is on there. I'm in English. Yes. No, that's a good thing. It's interesting when different editions come out how they look. For example, this is one book that's this is in English and this is the Korean. I don't even know if my name is here. So it's a very humbling experience, [Oh, I see] have all these different languages and not be able to even read your own name. Yes, it makes you realize that we really do have a global economy, and that the skills we learn in central Illinois at ISU do go or can go all over the world. Yes. I mean, I had no idea that I would have such an amazing life.

And you have and you still are too. And, and you kind of went into the next part of what I wanted to say is a lot of your journey is because you love to learn, and you continue to learn and you continue to impact across the world. So I guess you talked about this, hopefully, a lot of that is because you had this path at Illinois State that led you into it. And I have to mention too, you know, Mary has earned awards from many different places, but biasedly, she's won them from Illinois State University, and most recently got inducted into the College of Education's Hall of Fame last year. And it's because of the work you do and the impact that you make on the world, not just the United States, not just one other country, the United States, it's the world. So how does that make you feel to find out that your alma mater sees the work you're doing, and sees the impact you're making? What is that like?

It's humbling. Yeah, because I know that I'm just representing some of the other people out there who are writing lesson plans today, who are teaching double digit math. Who are grading papers tonight, staying up late to do that. So I'm just representative of a lot of other people who really espouse the concept of lifelong learning, and who are helping children learn the basics that they will take with them to have amazing lives too. Because when you're facing students, you have no idea where those students will go with their skills. But as a teacher, it's our responsibility to help those learn who are placed in front of us, but also to grow ourselves. It's that two way street.

it is and we circle back to a two way street. And that's what Mary, our time together has really shown me that it is a two way street and that we need to hold on to our values, and talking to you be humble for the experiences that you have. Work with a team and really go for your passions, find the need, find your passion, and you can achieve what you want then. So in just the short amount of time you have taught me so much as an educator, of course.

Let me let me share one thing about passion. Yeah, I was working with the DreamWorks Yes, I was told by a higher up exec, whose name you would recognize. But he said, I don't need to know who you've worked with or what budgets you've handled. I need to know do you feel so strongly about what you do that your passion leaps across a room? Wow. That's really what passion is. And that's what drives educators who come out of ISU.

Yes, you are very that you've we should start using that as a next phrase for recruiting our next group of teachers. And it's true. So thank you. Is there anything else Mary you want to share with our group or add? your time is invaluable. I thank you so much. So anything else,

just be sure to go through the doors that are opened, because you never know where that will lead. I've gone on some crazy things that I thought were these little side roads. And years later, they come back. So be sure you don't burn any bridges. Maintain those contacts that you have, build your network and and celebrate what you're doing. Because even with all the negatives that are going around in this world, we have a lot of positives to bring. We do we need to build on that. As a consultant. I always say what's going well? build on them. Yes, you'll have a great base.

Great. Well, thank you, Mary for your time with us today. We appreciate it. And we look forward to see what you do next because there's always more to do and there's always new ways to learn. So thank you again. Thank you. That was Redbird alum, author and educational consultant, Dr. Mary Manz Simon. Thanks for listening to Redbird Buzz and be sure to tune in next time for more stories from beyond the quad.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai