Leadership Mountain Brook Students Release Children’s Book
By Emily Williams
A group of students from Mountain Brook High School is saying, “Goodbye, moon,” and “Hello, Buttons.”
The Leadership Mountain Brook class of 2016 has spent the past semester hard at work finishing the children’s book “Buttons Explores the Brook.”
“It’s about a cat named Buttons who decides he wants to learn about leadership,” said leadership member Hadley Hitson. “He goes around to all of the different department officials, meeting them and learning indirectly about the different qualities that each of them have.”
Members of the group meet four times a week – twice a week at the Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce – and spend their time discussing leadership, learning about the inner workings of the city and brainstorming ways they can help the community.
Member Annie Hughes said the book was a group effort. “We divided up into groups and each group centered on one department. At the end we split up into marketing, photos, art and writing.”
Henry Kilpatrick, who is heading up the marketing group, agreed that it took a village to create Buttons’ story; but with a group of leaders, everyone was ready to pitch in during times of stress. He said that while the group was trying to finish the book and get it published, each member took the time to learn how to use PhotoShop, help the design team finish the images for the book and help create flyers and banners to promote it.
“The hardest part was the very beginning, finding a way to lead into the story,” Hughes said. “We all knew what we wanted to say and had strong characters, but we did not know how to start the book.”
Members of the group said they always knew they wanted the book to be geared toward children in an effort to teach elementary-age students more about leadership, but the plot was challenging to create. At moments Buttons could have been the mayor’s cat and at other moments he could have been the grand-cat of Robert Jemison, the man who helped design the city.
In the end, the group chose to keep the origin story simple.
“There is a real-life Buttons who used to walk around Crestline Village,” Hitson said. “There were too many story lines we could play off of.”
The students said that, before their research for the book and their creation of the different characters Buttons meets, they didn’t realize how much work goes into running a city.
Hughes, who was a part of the public works research team, said she had no idea that Mountain Brook residents didn’t have to pay a garbage fee.
“We have a leaf compost pile,” Hughes added. “I thought that it was hilarious that we have this pile of leaves. Anyone can go for free and load up their truck with mulch. I thought that was really interesting.”
Hitson’s group researched the fire and police departments. “I had never been inside the jail before,” she said. “I thought it was so interesting to see. They walked us through the entire process for when they bring in a criminal.”
The group plans to organize readings at each of the elementary schools in the city as a way to market their product and to teach younger students the importance of leadership within a community.
“I want (kids) to have a greater appreciation for the people who work hard behind the scenes,” Hughes said. “Our city is really incredible if you take a look at some of the things that people do. Some of them don’t even get paid for it.”
When they aren’t working on various programs to improve the city, Leadership Mountain Brook students make an effort to reach out to the younger kids in the community. They host an annual “Little Leadership Day.” At the 2015 event, elementary students helped the high school group clean up the Tot Lot in Crestline Village.
“We don’t want kids to sit back and be led all of the time,” Hitson said. “We want them to take their own initiative and express their own ideas.”
“Buttons Explores Mountain Brook” is available for $25 at Snoozy’s, Swoop, Smith’s Variety and the Chamber of Commerce.
“It’s very important for the buyers to know that the money that goes towards buying the book funds our city improvement projects,” Kilpatrick said. “So, really, their purchase of the book is an investment in the future of Mountain Brook.”
The Leadership Mountain Brook team isn’t taking a post-book break. Members are discussing marketing opportunities for their book and brainstorming new service projects.
“It was reaffirming to know how great the city of Mountain Brook is,” Fitzpatrick said. “I know a lot of people move away once their kids graduate high school. I think my parents are probably in that group, but I’m really lobbying for them to stick around.”