AUTHOR AND EDUCATOR CREATES THEMED GAS STATION CENTERED AROUND READING

Roopster Roux creator Lavaille Lavette (C) poses with 17th Ward Ald. David Moore (L) and owners of The Roux gas station and convenience store, Naser Odeh and Mohammed Abdullah, following grand opening program at 7051 S. Western Ave. in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood. PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE PUBLICITY WORKS.
Roopster Roux creator Lavaille Lavette (C) poses with 17th Ward Ald. David Moore (L) and owners of The Roux gas station and convenience store, Naser Odeh and Mohammed Abdullah, following grand opening program at 7051 S. Western Ave. in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood. PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE PUBLICITY WORKS.

 Author and educator creates themed gas station centered around reading

BY TIA CAROL JONES

The books were published in 1998-1999 and there was even a “Roopster Roux Day.”

Lavette created a Roux community, with reading and sports at the center. She dreamed of using Roopster Roux to get kids excited about reading and creating a bridge outside of the classroom for
parents to help their kids read. She wanted to create Roux gas stations, where gas stations would also be reading centers.

“Being in education, everything that I do, whether it’s in education or in business, there’s always a community component to it,” Lavette said.

On Thursday, Sept. 29th, Lavette hosted a ribbon cutting for the first Roux Gas Station at 7051 S. Ashland. She partnered with other community minded individuals, Naser Odeh and Mohammed Abdullah, who were looking for a way to give back. The groundbreaking for the gas station took place in
2019, then the pandemic happened. The gas station opened in April. The ribbon cutting took place on Sept. 29th, because it is “Roopster Roux Day.”

The themed gas station has a reading corner, where kids can read books there, or they can check out. There also will be programming at the gas station. The Roux Development Team, which consists of retired and currently employed educators, developed the Roux curriculum. There will be a reading
incentive program, which will give kids the opportunity to be part of the Roopster Roux All-Star Reading Team and win prizes based on how many books they read.

“This is a gas station with a purpose,” says Odeh. “We take great pride in what we are building in this community. We believe it is very important to give back to the people who support us.”

Each semester, there will be themed concepts around reading. The first, which will begin in January, will be focused on reading comprehension. The winners will be able to receive prizes based on questions they answer after reading Roopster Roux books.

“The whole concept of the Roux program is to bring education outside of the classroom, make it fun and interesting, but also, be able to disseminate information to parents, too, around literacy,” Lavette said. “I wanted to be able to provide something to the community other than selling gas and products.”

Lavette hopes to have gatherings at the gas station, as well as visit the schools in the neighborhood that she is partnering with. She wants to create an extension of what is happening in the classrooms in schools around Roux.

There are six “Adventures of Roopster Roux” books: Slammin’ Slime, Surfing the Net, The Monster All-Stars, Escape from Vulture’s Roost, “Steve Harvey Presents The Adventures of Roopster Roux You’re So Victor Vain” and “Steve Harvey Presents The Adventures of Roopster Roux That’s Not Punny.”

For more information about Lavaille Lavette’s
Adventures of Roopster Roux, visit www.roopsterroux.
com.

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