The weekend’s snowstorm didn’t arrive in time to give the Irving School a snow day Friday, but 16 second-graders still got out of the classroom thanks to the Derby Department of Public Works.
The second-graders, from teacher Candace Lebel’s classroom, went to the DPW complex on Coon Hollow Road as the culmination of months of visits to Lebel’s class from Mark Matto, an eight-year DPW employee.
The visits are part of a collaborative program between the school and Junior Achievement of Western Connecticut made possible through a grant from the Valley Community Foundation.
During his visits to Lebel’s class, Matto talked to the students about exactly what people like DPW employees do when they see him driving around the city or cutting the grass at their school.
“He’s been teaching them what the different parts of our community in Derby do, and in particular his job at public works and how they support our community,” Lebel explained Friday.
Other community leaders “adopted” a classroom apiece as part of the program, which involves the school’s fifth, fourth, and third grades, as well as a classroom each in the third and second grades.
Matto said the funniest lesson with the second-graders involved him assigning them all fictional “jobs” and then fake money to pay for them.
But then he had to take some of it back.
“Taxes,” Matto explained with a grin.
“They were like ‘What do you mean we have to give it back?’” Lebel said. “They did not want to give it to him.”
The lessons give the students an understanding of financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and understanding job readiness, she said.
On Friday, the students were rewarded with a visit to the DPW, where they got a tour of all the equipment and trucks before a pizza party.
Employees also pitched in to buy customized T‑shirts, making each student an honorary member of the city’s public works department, and Matto handed out diplomas attesting to each student’s participation.
It was a nice way to wrap up the program, Lebel said.
“When they walked into the building, they were all shouting for him: ‘Mr. Matto, Mr. Matto!’ They were all excited to see him here,” Lebel said.
Matto said working with the kids is its own reward.
“Just to see the smiles on their faces, they love this,” he said. “When they see me walk into the classroom they’re just ecstatic.”
Lebel thanked DPW director Anthony DeFala, for giving Matto time to speak to her class.
“We were more than happy to lend a helping hand, and Mark volunteered right away,” DeFala said.
