Christina Mamagat is a third-grade teacher at Carlyle Elementary, devoting her life to education for the past fifteen years. “I really like teaching them life skills and how it’s going to shape them, who they’re going to be tomorrow,” she says. She takes moulding the minds of the next generation seriously, and it even inspired her to write two books in less than a year. “I really wanted to create a book that is going to teach children, teach adults, because I think even adults need a reminder of, like, how to behave and how to talk to each other. ” Mamagat’s writing is inspired by real issues she sees in her classroom, especially how social media is changing the way children interact, she says. “Children are becoming a little bit more desensitized. And when they’re being desensitized, empathy is kind of getting lost. And that’s where the kindness is getting lost,” she said. The childhood educator wants to inspire children to forge real bonds and practice kindness, and her students are taking note. “It’s nice to be kind because I think if you’re mean to everyone, how will they treat you? It’s not going to be very nice,” said nine-year-old Delia Dimopoulos. “I learned that you have to be kind to others to make friends and play together, and say kind words,” said classmate Woobin Lim. Mamagat also illustrated both books, combining her two passions: education and art. “I just did it for fun, and I said, ‘okay, I’ll just try to self-publish and figure it out,’” she said. “The first book was a big learning curve. It wasn’t easy, especially to do it by myself. But the second one, I figured out how to make the book more rich in terms of, like, colour and the content.” Already working on her next book, she hopes to continue to spark a dialogue. “I feel like if I can put some good, some kindness out there, I’m doing something,” she said. “I really just want them to get like a message of remembering, to be honest, but be kind, to be respectful, to be open minded.”
