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Second grader Benny Ford promoted for the day

Second grader Benny Ford promoted for the day
Boy sits at desk

Boy sits at desk

The big question on this day was to have recess indoors or outdoors, considering the chilly, murky weather. While it was not his decision to make, that fell to the Bruno M. Ponterio Ridge Street School Principal Tracy Taylor, second grader Benjamin “Benny” Ford gave his input during a meeting with the school administrator.

“I think closing the playground today would be very good, we can always play basketball on the hardtop,” Benny suggested.

Benny’s input was appreciated, as he fulfilled his new duties. On this day he was no ordinary second grader, he was Superintendent for the Day.

Following the meeting with the principal, Benny accompanied Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Brian Alm, to his classroom where he was greeted by his teacher, Kerri James. He read the book “How Rocket Learned to Read” to his class. He also answered questions from his classmates.

They are still waiting on a final word about recess, his day would be filled with meetings, tours and another reading session with his first-grade teachers’ class and Benny shared, the badge he was wearing with his name and photo, really does work.

Later in the morning, Benny sat at the Superintendent’s desk where he signed paperwork and checked emails, all in a day’s work.

“I was very excited to be named Superintendent for a Day,” Benny said during a short break in his morning. He explained that he won the job through a silent auction at the PTA hosted Fall Festival.

“I knew what kind of work they do,” Benny said of a Superintendent’s role in the district. He said too that he knew for a fact that they read to classes, as he recalled the former Superintendent last year visiting his classroom to do just that.

One of the most exciting parts of the day, Benny said, was that he received a working badge.

“I was super surprised when I got a badge,” he said.

The badge not only opens doors, but allows access to the copy machine, something he would need as he made extra copies of his days schedule.

“It’s a huge relief to have so much extra help,” Dr. Alm said of his assistant. “Especially because he’s such a good reader. Mr. Ford read to two classes so far and all the classes were appreciative of this.”

As the day progressed, Benny and Dr. Alm took a tour of the elementary school, visiting areas of the building that are typically off limits to students, including the staff lounge and the control room. He also visited classrooms, sharing copies of his schedule before having a lunch meeting with Dr. Alm and Board of Education Vice President, Corey Stephenson. Later in the afternoon he sat in on a cabinet meeting.

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¡Hola! Spanish comes to BMPRSS

This year, Foreign Language in Elementary Schools (FLES) is back at the Bruno M. Ponterio Ridge Street School, and both teacher Jasminne Paulino and students are exclaiming “¡Olé!”

Each day, Ms. Paulino steps into the classrooms of third, fourth and fifth graders where she spends 20 minutes introducing students to the Spanish language. She brings with her a rolling basket of resources that includes everything from message boards with images pertaining to vocabulary students will be learning, a speaker for them to listen to authentic Latin music and worksheets to help them write in a new language. Occasionally, she surprises the students with some playful puppets that she uses to enhance their engagement. Among these puppets, Arturo seems to be the favorite.

Ms. Paulino takes the approach that students want to be active and engaged. To that end, her lessons usually begin with a physical warm up where she and the students stand and recite the names of their body parts in Spanish—shoulders, ears, knees etc. Throughout her interactions with students, she uses Spanish 95 percent of the time. English is reserved for providing instructions that may be challenging for students to understand.

“There’s a lot of repetition, switching up activities, playing games,” Ms. Paulino said. “Everything is meant to establish that connection so while they are not in the classroom, they are using the language as much as possible.”

The teacher is spending the first half of the year teaching students’ everyday language, with the second half focusing on units of study about Spanish speaking countries.

“Opening their minds to that level of diversity is something I love to see,” the teacher said, adding that when she informed students those different regions have a different way to say the word “cool,” the students were impressed. 

“You are giving kids a glimpse into the culture,” she said.

“Starting a foreign language in elementary school is so wonderful,” Ms. Paulino continued. “It leads into the language program at the middle school. It will change the whole K-12 world language program.”

Most of the students she is working with are not native Spanish speakers. Many of them have relatives who are fluent in Spanish, or they possess some prior knowledge of the language. Some of her students have told her they are practicing what they have learned with older siblings who are also studying the language.

“I think the trick is to make it fun, make it engaging,” she said. “I feed off their enthusiasm. It’s a lot of fun for me.”

Just a few weeks into the new school year, Ms. Paulino has seen how students have embraced what they are learning. One afternoon as she left the building after school, two fifth graders spoke to her in Spanish.

“Seeing the children this excited a month in, it makes me look forward to the rest of the school year,” Ms. Paulino said.