THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – Friday, March 8, 2019 Page 3 ASKS | from page 1 John and Carole Roberts, still live in town. Small and her husband, Jason Small, live in North Reading with their two children. Some highlights of the interview follow. Q: Karen, please tell me what makes your job interesting. A: It’s fun that I get to work with students of all different ages, and it’s fun to see how much they excel in reading, especially when I stay here from kindergarten all the way to the fifth grade … and we can see how much achievement they make throughout the years. Q: So, I understand this is the same classroom where you were once before, as a student. A: Yes. I moved here from Lynn and I started at the Oaklandvale, third grade, and I had Mrs. Gill. Q: So, this was your third grade classroom, and right now you are teaching in the same classroom where you went to school. A: Yes! So, it’s kind of funny and coincidental that I’m teaching in the room where I first started. Q: Please tell me a little bit about today [last Friday] – Read Across America Day. How did you set that up? You got some local dignitaries to come in and read to the kids. A: Yes. Every year we like to celebrate Dr. Seuss and to remember him, so this year we decided to do a “Spirit Week.” So, every day, we did something different. To raise the excitement in the school, we had “Crazy Hair and Crazy Hat Day” on Monday. Tuesday, we had “Wear Your Favorite Sports Jersey.” Wednesday, we had “Wacky Wednesday,” in which you got to dress up as your favorite book character or you got to wear mismatched clothing. Thursday was “Silly Socks.” And today [Friday], we got to wear our pajamas, and we also had guest readers from the community, so we had police officers from the Saugus Police Department. And we had representatives of the Saugus Fire Department, and we also had many members from the Saugus High School Student Council. Q: Now, I noticed that you had the Saugus fire chief [Michael C. Newbury] in one of the classrooms. Did you have any other bigwigs from town reading today? A: Just the ones I mentioned. Q: So, this is an annual thing, and in the last day, it’s in honor of Dr. Seuss. A: Right. And it also motivates students to read. We also do a “Get Caught Reading Raffle.” So, any time students are caught reading without being asked, they put their name on a raffle ticket. At the end of the day, we pick names, and students get a chance to earn reading-related prizes, so it’s really motivated the students this week to read more. Q: How many years have you been doing this, in honor of Dr. Seuss? A: Since I’ve been here, six years, but I know previously, it’s been a tradition here. Q: Okay, so it’s an ongoing tradition that goes back a lot of years. And, as being in charge of the reading program here, it’s one of the fun projects you oversee. A: Yes. I always wanted to have a profession where I help people, and it’s definitely rewarding. I see how much the students want to read. Reading is something you need in your life. It helps so much. Q: Now … what is your challenge? How many students are you responsible for? A: I have about 40 students I work with, and I work with all of the teachers also. There’s a great community here where people work together, and we have meetings to discuss the progress: how the students are doing, what strategies we can share with each other to make sure everyone is getting what they need. Q: And those 40 students, those are the students who are in most need of assistance? A: Yes. We do different assessments and we have groupings based on the results of what the assessments are. Q: Now, I guess across the spectrum of the students you have, a certain percentage are probably English Language Learners. A: Yes. Q: They might be having certain difficulties with the speech or whatever, trying to master the English language, and they need a little extra help. A: Right. 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