Priest's Confessions: Lunch with Joe | Columnists | Summerville Journal Scene

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Priest's Confessions: Lunch with Joe

Published Wednesday, January 21, 2009 11:22 AM

By Ellen Priest
Summerville Journal Scene ®

I, and some of my staff, had lunch with Dorchester Two Superintendent Joe Pye and Public Information Officer Pat Raynor recently. For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Pye, he is a bundle of energy, full of vim and vigor. He is a pleasure to be around, and has a constant twinkle in his eye. He shared some of his views and his vision for the school system with us.

Joe said he doesn’t know why parents sometimes object to having a new teacher instruct their students. He loves having new teachers in the schools. With each new teacher comes new ideas and energy. Having that mixed with older, more experienced teachers makes a good combination. New teachers are diligent about their work, sometimes spending many extra hours in the classroom to make sure they are properly prepared each day. He enjoyed our series on new teacher, Laura Evans, last year. We tracked Laura monthly throughout the year, sharing her worries, triumphs and daily tasks. He said it was indicative of how dedicated the new teachers he has seen come into the district are.

When we praised the school district, Joe humbly stated that DD2 is good but it can be better. He said that he doesn’t believe in resting on his laurels. He believes that they must always be striving to be better. No wonder DD2 has such a good reputation as a leader in the county, region, and state.

One example of DD2’s success can be seen in Sally Taylor. I became a reading mentor for the GIFT program in Sally’s classroom this year at Summerville Elementary. Sally is about the cutest thing you will ever meet. She is high energy and she loves every one of her students whole-heartedly. She has us sing songs that are appropriate for the season. This month we are celebrating Black History Month. Last month it was Christmas. We go over the lyrics with our assigned child. We read chosen books. We test reading and comprehension skills. Anyone volunteering in Sally’s classroom is promptly put to work.

Her volunteer assistant is Mr. George. The children respect and listen to Mr. George and he fills in wherever he is needed. The reading mentors come from all walks of life. They are retirees, stay-at-home moms, company executives, and hourly workers. All are there because they were recruited by Sally to help her children. As Sally says, these children are reading just below their proper reading level. All they need is a little extra attention and some hard work to get over that hump and they will be right on task where they need to be.

So each week, we arrive at our appointed time and spend a whirlwind 35 minutes doing our assigned tasks. Sally takes the time to speak to each mentor about how the child did that week, in addition to the forms we fill out. She doses out instructions and love to the children in equal parts. And they love her in return.

Sally and hundreds of other teachers are DD2’s success stories. They are passionate, as she is, about molding these young people into the future leaders of our county. I was fortunate enough to be recruited by Sally to help the schools in some small way. Every school in the district has volunteers that help in reading programs, in the classrooms, and in the office. If you have a few extra minutes, call a school near your office or home and volunteer an hour each week. I spend one lunch hour a week doing this. It is time well spent. Our children are worth it.

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104 East Doty Avenue | Summerville, SC 29483 | 843-873-9424 office | 843-873-9432 fax