As a former educator, I am always happy to accept invitations to visit our local schools to either make presentations or to participate in a class panel. In addition to personal invites to visit classes, I also enjoy meeting with teachers and administrative staff from Darien schools to discuss their programs and the various ways in which the city can work with each school to form a bond that best serves the students and residents of the city of Darien.
Last week, I had an opportunity to have the experience visiting one of our local schools as a classroom presenter. I received an email several weeks prior from Samantha Morgan, a second grade teacher at Mark Delay School. Ms. Morgan runs a program titled Career Club for her second grade students, and invites individuals of various professions to visit her class and address her students regarding their position. Her request centered on my role as Mayor of Darien, specifically what I do as Mayor, why I chose to run as Mayor, and what training was required in order to assume the role of Mayor. While I was very excited to have an opportunity to address her students, I did have concerns regarding how I would present myself to a second grade class. When I arrived at Mark DeLay, I was warmly greeted by the front office staff, and after checking in, was escorted to Ms. Morgan’s class, where I found twenty students eagerly awaiting my presence.
I began my presentation with a brief description of my background as a high school administrator, and the various teaching and administrative roles I had during my thirty-five years in public education. I found these young people to be very attentive, and would have to say that if anyone negatively questions the attention span of these second graders they would be terribly wrong. These young students were attentive to my presentation and peppered me with intelligent and thoughtful questions. I was impressed with their level of their questions, and found that by the end of my presentation that I had learned as much about them as they might have learned about my role as Mayor. I credit Ms. Morgan with preparing them for my presentation; she has obviously created a classroom environment that encourages intellectual curiosity. As a former administrator who had opportunities to visit teacher’s classrooms, I always had an appreciation for excellent teaching, and my visit to Ms. Morgan’s classroom was in my mind an example of a teacher who creates a learning experience that challenges her students, supports their growth and prepares them for academic success.
When I spoke to Ms. Morgan’s second grade classroom, I told her students that I was proud to be Mayor of Darien. They asked why, and I told them that we had so many wonderful aspects to our city and I noted their school as an example. I told them how fortunate they were to be attending a school, where so much personal attention was presented to students. I noted that there were many students who did not experience the quality of learning and instruction that was present in Darien schools, and that they should appreciate the fact that they live in a city that can provide students and their families with such wonderful learning experiences. While that might have been a lot to share with second graders, somehow I believe that they received the message and my belief is that they will be well prepared for the future; maybe one of them will become Mayor of Darien someday.