Today Monika was invited to meet State Superintendent Tony Evers at the Wisconsin Capitol for his annual state of education address. She was asked to lead the pledge of allegiance and introduce the assistant superintendent. The principal of our school and superintendent of our school district both came to the meet and greet before the ceremony (below; top, left picture). She was given a state DPI certificate honoring her accomplishment of winning state superintendent at Badger Girls State, along with the boy who won the same state position at Badger Boys State (below; top, right picture). We were escorted to the capitol from a hotel we were at with a bit of a short State Street tour (below; bottom, left picture). Obviously, being from Madison, the tour was for the other family. After the ceremony she was invited to the state superintendent's office to check out where he did his work (photo below; right bottom). She thought to write a short note thanking him for the invitation, which was very nice. The day was very special. We topped it off with a late lunch at Ian's Pizza. A treat for me, as I had never been and it was delicious!
I was told many times, how great Monika was, "a natural," how proud I must me, etc. She's an impressive young woman. It was hard not to brag about all three of my daughters. With a senior at UW's business school and a daughter at the Naval Academy, Monika is not an extraordinary kid in our family really. As I listened to the superindent talk about the state of education in the state of Wisconsin, I thought about how important education had been in our family. The success my daughters have found comes from a foundation of educational values early on. When Monika was running for superintendent last summer at Badger Girls State, she asked me what I felt was important about education. I think the most important thing we can do for children is offer educational experiences early in life-- pre-school and 4 year old kindergarten are a must. I watched Erika go to full time kindergarten while living in Germany and I learned how vital it was for kids to begin to learn to socialize and interact with their peers before they started elementary school. In Germany, 4 year olds are taught how to go to school first-- not how to read or do math. They learn how to interact properly, they eat a family style lunch everyday where they learn how to pass the plate of food, say thank you and at the end of the day gather their things and offer a proper salutation.
As a teacher in high school, I have come to realize that half of my job is teaching kids to interact and socialize appropriately. I have casual conversations not only to get to know my kids but to engage in a role modeling of social norms. Children who do well in school are kids who have been read to, visited museums, traveled, were introduced to strangers and learned how to interact appropriately. Some folks point the fingers to certain sub-cultures in America as having huge gaps in learning and I would offer that while poverty is partially to blame, isolation is the greatest deterrent to learning. The sooner we get kids interacting and becoming social beings who care about the society they live in, the better places schools will become and the greatest way to do that (maybe the cheapest way too) is to read to our young. While not everyone can afford to travel or visit museums, but one can do both with a book. One of my most cherished times as a young mother was reading the Hobbit to all three girls every night for a few months one Wisconsin winter. Oh, the places we went to that winter in our imaginations! Having all three girls fight to stay awake to hear the story was magical. I believe my own educational passions began on the couch with my dad as he read Bible stories to me when was a very young girl.
There was one funny moment when someone asked Monika if she wanted to be a teacher, like her mother, when she grew up. She smiled awkwardly and said no. I know she wants to travel and hopes to do something with international relations. She'd make an amazing ambassador. I turned to the gentleman and shared that I think teacher's kids want to grow up to make a bit more money then their parents. He laughed and agreed-- teacher's don't make enough money to travel much.
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