Sen. Joe Donnelly Spends Morning as Teacher at Darrough Chapel
Donnelly interacts with Head Start students, commends teachers on their hard work
By:
Lauren Slagter
Head Start students in Mandy Stout’s class at Darrough Chapel Early Learning Center had a special guest to read their Doc McStuffins book Tuesday – U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly.
Donnelly, D-Indiana, was warmly welcomed to the classroom with hugs from the students. “Who’s this?” Stout prompted the children when Donnelly arrived. Amid their response of “Senator Donnelly,” he asked that they call him Joe and was introduced to a student in the class with the same name.
“[Teachers] are the cornerstone that everything else is built around [in a school],” Donnelly said. “It’s not built around the building, it’s not built around the gym, it’s not built around the football team. It’s built around the teachers who are in the classroom every single day teaching our children everything they need to know to be competitive in today’s global economy.”
Donnelly’s hour helping out in Stout’s classroom is part of his ongoing “Donnelly Days” events where the senator works alongside Hoosiers in different professions. Stout, who is in her fifth year of teaching at Head Start, kept him busy reading aloud to students and then helping to lead a small group activity.
There were plenty of giggles among the 17 4- and 5-year-olds in the class as Donnelly asked them about characters in the “Doc McStuffins: Engine Nine, Feelin’ Fine!” book he read to them. Next, students measured stuffed animals they had brought to class by counting the number of blocks that matched the length of their toys.
“Do you think we can be extra good listeners and show him how smart we are?” Stout asked her students as they divided up for a small-group activity.
The students delivered as they sat on the floor in a circle around Donnelly, who followed Stout’s lead and asked the group about names of different stuffed animals and whether each one is considered domestic or wild. Instructional assistant Ranjina Joshi, who has worked at Head Start for 13 years, led the other half of the class in making letters with wooden pieces in the meantime.
The senator took to the sidelines during the class’ jumping “Jack Be Nimble” songtime.
“They gave me the lesson plan beforehand, and the lesson plan went about 10 pages long for what we did in about an hour,” Donnelly said. “[Teachers] work on this day and night. They are the frontline in making our children better and improving our country. We’re really in their debt for all the hard work they do.”
Donnelly cited Darrough Chapel as an excellent example of the type of pre-kindergarten programs he would like to see expanded in Indiana, noting the importance of a strong educational foundation to students’ future success.
Here are Donnelly’s thoughts on some other current educational issues:
- President Barack Obama’s proposal to offer two years of free community college tuition: “Community college is critical,” Donnelly said. “Skills training is critical, and my focus has been more on making sure you can graduate from whatever school you’re in with the lowest possible student debt. At the end of the road, instead of coming out with $100,000 in debt, you’re debt free or just a little bit in debt.”
- Gov. Mike Pence’s desire to make vocational education a priority in high school: “I think those are good steps,” Donnelly said. “Then you tie that into the presence of Ivy Tech and places like IU Kokomo where we can continue to get a great education.”
