Mayor Joe DiMartino read to Irving School first graders in teacher Melanie Reardon's class
DERBY — Valley civic figures shared their love of reading with Irving School students Thursday (March 7) to celebrate Read Across America Week.
The weeklong, national event kicks off annually on March 2, marking beloved children’s author Dr. Seuss’ birthday. Its goal, according to the National Education Association, is to encourage and foster a lifelong love of reading in children.
Irving School focused its week of reading events on author Kobi Yamada and his “What You Do Matters” series of children’s books. The books encourage children to solve problems peacefully, follow their dreams and take healthy risks, according to Irving’s K‑2 literacy coach Amanda Hubbard.
“Here at Irving, we want to establish a really great relationship with the community, so we asked the guest readers to come in,” Hubbard said. “We want the children to see what reading can do for them, and by seeing different people in their different careers, like the mayor, the state reps and people from Griffin Hospital, it shows them what the power of reading can do.”
Mayor Joe DiMartino was joined at Irving by several other guest readers from the community and the Valley at large, including state Reps. Nicole Klarides-Ditria, Mary Welander, Kara Rochelle and state Sen. Jorge Cabrera, along with Superintendent of Schools Matt Conway, Board of Education Chairman Jim Gildea and several others.
DiMartino said he was honored when asked to read to teacher Melanie Reardon’s first grade class on Thursday. DiMartino read “What Do You Do With a Problem?” to the attentive group of kids sprawled out on a brightly colored carpet. DiMartino ad-libbed as he flipped between pages and slowed down to show the pictures in the book.
“Whenever you guys have a big problem, you can always go to your mom and dad and your teacher and it’s always a good idea to talk about it,” DiMartino told the kids. “It’s best to dive right into the problem.”
First graders Farah Lasalle, 6, Morgan Maharaj, 7, said they enjoyed having the mayor read to them, and said they could relate to the book he read about solving problems.
“I know when I’m doing adding or have a hard math problem, I try to solve it by myself first, and if I can’t do it, I ask the teacher for help,” Morgan said.
Farah agreed that it’s never a bad idea to ask for help.
“If I have a problem, I’ll try to solve it myself and then if it doesn’t work, I’ll go to a friend. And then, if that doesn’t work, I’ll go to a teacher.”
Irving Principal Marc Russo said he enjoys welcoming the community into the K‑5 elementary school.
“The kids need to see that the community is involved in their education,” Russo said. “Having so many different people in here today, and all week really, creates that environment that Irving School is just not these four walls, it’s the whole community around us.”
