Students at St. Sava Orthodox School in Milwaukee wear hats that were made by an anonymous 80-year-old woman who lives in Colorado. The woman, who calls herself Nora, knits the brightly colored hats for students who read. It takes Nora about three hours to knit one hat. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Photo/Michael Sears)

Colorado Woman Inspires Milwaukee Children to Read

Students at a school in Milwaukee can cap their reading efforts with free hats. A student who reads enough books is given a warm, winter hat.

The hats are gifts from a woman who lives in Colorado. The woman knits each hat by hand. She spends about three hours on each hat.

The program is very popular with the children. A little more than 100 students at St. Sava Orthodox School have gotten winter hats for reading books.

Children who reach their reading goals also have pictures taken of themselves. The pictures are posted in a hallway in the school. The successful students also have their names announced on the school's public address system.

Knitter known only as Nora

The woman who knits the hats wants to be known only by the name Nora. She is 80-years-old. She is a retired geographer. She used to work for the United States military.

The hats are a way for the woman to live up to her college motto. The English translation of the motto is: “Mine is the care of the future.” The original version of the motto is in the Latin language.

Nora told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the hats are a way to get children to read more. She said knitting the hats helps her have a sense of purpose. The hats give her a connection to children when many other people her age are more isolated from other people, especially young people.

“I need to be doing this,” Nora said. “I need to feel better. It makes me feel good.”

The woman said she thinks that if children read books while they are young, they will read books “before they pick up anything else.”

Mary Lee McNally is a second-grade teacher at St. Sava. A teacher that McNally knew helped connect her with Nora.

Teacher says hats get kids to read more

McNally said the program encourages students who read to read even more books. She also said some students probably would not read without the program. She said some of those students are reading because it gives them a goal.

Nora has knit hats for Russian orphans. She also knits hats for children at a couple of other schools.

The woman says she wishes more people would knit hats or do something to get children to read more. She said even going to a school to listen to children read aloud would help.  

Others donate the yarn for the hats, Nora said. A friend who works for a delivery company takes care of getting the hats from Colorado to Milwaukee.