By Joe Jarosz
Northeast News
May 27, 2015

KANSAS CITY, Missouri — Kansas City Chief’s linebacker Derrick Johnson knows the importance of children reading early and often.

As the son of a school teacher, he said he read a lot as a child and wants to help the children of Kansas City’s urban core have access to as` many books as possible. Johnson is using his Defend the Dream Foundation as a catalyst, by recently providing reading dens to three Kansas City schools. Northeast’s Guadalupe Centers’ Academia de Niños Elementary School was one of the few selected. Last week, Johnson stopped by the school to unveil the discovery den and then read to the students.

When Kim Kenyon, principal at Guadalupe Centers’ Academia de Niños Elementary School, learned about the selection over the school’s spring break, she couldn’t believe the good news. With the discovery den, the school received book shelves, bean bag chairs and over 1,200 books. Even though Academia de Niños only consists of first and second grade so far, the donated books range from different grade levels to allow maximum impact for all student ages.

“It brought tears to my eyes,” Kenyon said.

Kenyon added that Academia de Niños is a start-up, noting they can’t have, “all of it” up at once, meaning students have limited access to books and supplies. Currently, the school has just under 230 students. Kenyon, a first year principal with the elementary school, said next year, the school will add a third grade class with fourth and fifth grade classes coming in the following years.

“This is such an incredible opportunity for us,” Kenyon said. “I hope the kids are as excited as I am and the staff are.”

The books in the discovery den, which belong to the school, will be color coded and students will be able to take them home or either read in the den. Kenyon said within the next couple of years, the school will also build its own library. Currently, the staff have been creative and constructed a miniature library for the students. With the addition of the discovery den, the students will have plenty to read, but the school still wants a fully formed library.

“We’re taking baby steps to get there,” Kenyon said, adding the school is extremely grateful for the 1,200 books received by Johnson’s foundation.

Johnson said his passion is working with kids on the education and reaching their full potential. He hopes the discovery den encourages more children to read, not just at school, but at home as well.

“There’s nothing like seeing a kid get ahead,” Johnson said. “I love this opportunity. It’s important for me to do things inside the community, especially when everyone supports the Chiefs. The platform I have with the NFL allows me to give back like this. “

After reading to the child, Johnson stuck around to sign autographs and take pictures with the children and their family.

Margaret Ramirez’s daughter is a first grader at Academia de Niños. She reads at home with her daughter, but sees the discovery den as something awesome for the school.

“It’ll help everyone’s reading level so much,” Ramirez said. “It’ll give them that extra umph to get over the hump and read more.”