Follow @FastCoLeaders for all of our leadership news, expert bloggers, and book excerptsGov. Deval Patrick paid Oaklandvale Elementary School a visit Monday to congratulate students for demonstrating strong reading proficiency on the MCAS.
Fourth graders from Lisa Kilfoyle and Joy Wright’s classes piled into the cafeteria for an informal chat with Patrick.
Flanked by state education officials, Patrick spoke to the students about the importance of literacy and asked about their reading habits.
Plenty of hands shot up for each question Patrick posed as the Oaklandvale students weren’t shy about engaging with the governor.
The students eagerly listed the books they last read and explained to Patrick the strategies they used to improve their literacy skills.
“I just kept practicing reading and I got really good,” one girl said.
Another student mentioned how his mother read to him as a little boy and how he likes to read to younger kids when he gets the chance.
Patrick proclaimed November Family Literacy Month and has made education a top priority in his administration. He stopped by Oaklandvale because Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester designated the school as a Commendation School for making tremendous strides on the MCAS.
A whopping 67 percent of Oaklandvale third graders reached proficiency or higher on the latest reading MCAS exam, an increase of 26 percent over the previous year. These were the students in Shannon Wilson and Catherine Cancelliere’s classes last spring.
Fourth graders also excelled, with 42 percent of students falling in the proficiency category for the English/language arts section, up from 28 percent in 2009.
Patrick commended the fourth graders for their outstanding performance and encouraged them to keep up the good work. Being a good reader can portend good things for the future, he asserted.
“Becoming comfortable with reading is probably the most important thing you can get out of your education,” Patrick said, noting he loves to read and does so whenever he can.
When Patrick opened up the forum to questions the Oaklandvale students got to ask the governor whatever they wished.
One boy wanted to know if Patrick was friends with President Barack Obama — “yes and I was his friend before he was president,” he answered — while another Oaklandvale student was curious what book Patrick is currently reading.
Patrick responded that he just started a mystery novel and on the nonfiction side is enjoying the book “Big Citizenship” by Alan Khazei.
Other students used the session with Patrick to ask about the job he held before becoming governor (lead counsel for Coca-Cola), if he has any kids (two daughters) and what he plans to eat on Thanksgiving (turkey . . . no shocker there).
Before the session wrapped up Patrick left the students with a few words of career advice.
“Wherever you go to work do something you love and it will never feel like work,” Patrick said.
Following the question and answer period Patrick toured the Oaklandvale School and also met with teachers for a private conference.
Fourth grader Domenic Paolo, who proudly told Patrick how he recently read “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” said it was “awesome” to meet the governor in person.
“I’m going to be governor someday!” Paolo proclaimed.
Classmate Marissa Stockwell agreed that serving the state as governor would be a pretty cool job, though she acknowledged from Patrick’s answer it sounded like “a lot of work.”
Patrick praised the Oaklandvale staff for implementing different programs to help students learn, including providing updated training to educate a growing population of English language learners, utilizing technology to tailor instruction, building partnerships with businesses to support student learning, analyzing MCAS scores to boost performance on open response questions and incorporating critical reading and writing skills across the curriculum.
School officials said it was a thrill for Patrick to visit the Oaklandvale School to commend the students.
“The Saugus school community is delighted to have Gov. Patrick visit the Oaklandvale Elementary School to acknowledge the school’s Commendation for Exiting No Child Left Behind Accountability Status, resulting from the FY 10 MCAS test results,” said Superintendent of Schools Richard Langlois. “The governor’s visit demonstrates his commitment to public education and recognizing the accomplishments of districts, staff and students. We share in that pride and thank him for taking time out of his day to attend our school.”
