THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – Friday, April 3, 2020 ~ THE ADVOCATE ASKS ~ Page 3 Christine Quagenti discusses her efforts to keep COVID-19 from hurting her daughters’ education Editor’s Note: For this week’s paper, we interviewed Christine Quagenti, who has three daughters who are attending Saugus Public Schools. We asked her about her concerns and frustrations as they relate to her children’s education since schools closed on March 13 because of the novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19. To practice social distancing, she agreed, via several emails and phone conversations, to talk about how her family is coping with the challenges of continuing her daughters’ education during the period that the schools remain closed. Christine is originally from Revere and is a 1994 Revere High School graduate. Her husband, Joe, is a Saugus native and a 1991 graduate of Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational High School in Wakefi eld. They have been a couple since she was 17. Last June they celebrated their 20th anniversary. They lived in Wakefi eld but moved into their current home in Saugus in October 2002. They have four daughters: One of them is a graduate of Saugus High School; the other three are still attending Saugus Public Schools. After graduating from the Bryan School in 1995, Christine worked for several years as a medical assistant. She had to give up that job due to a vision-deteriorating disease. She has worked in recent years in the food service fi eld due to vision issues. Joe attended Wentworth Institute and went on to earn a degree in computer science. He has been working in the software engineering fi eld. Christine and Joe both work out of their house. Highlights of our interview follow: likes to cook and help with household chores. She is very much a mother hen, and it’s in her to the core to take care of everyone. She will do without to make someone happy/ comfortable. She is an average student and has to work hard for her good grades. She tries very hard. Last but not least, is our youngest, Ava. She is six years old. She is in fi rst grade, also at the Waybright School. She also takes gymnastics. She is our free spirit and a little comedian, even when she is not trying to be funny. She is also an average student and also has to work hard for her good grades. I am happy to say, thus far, none of our daughters have ever been a behavior issue at school. Q: What are the primary challenges for you as a parent of children in Saugus Public Schools during the coronavirus health crisis? A: This is not easy on the parents. We both work. We still need to shop, cook, keep up with the house, laundry, etc., but now we are the teachers as well. We are not educated in teaching and at this point are guessing what should be taught. Q: When school ended on MAKING THE BEST OF THINGS: Left to right, Ava Quagenti, 6, and her sister Daniella, 8, studied this week inside their Taylor Street home, where their parents – Christine and Joe Quagenti – made sure that education continues while they await more detailed instructions from the Saugus Public Schools. Ava and Daniella are in the fi rst and third grades, respectively, at the Waybright Elementary School. (Courtesy Photo to The Saugus Advocate) Q: Please tell me a little bit about your daughters, since they are the reason for this interview. Feel free to provide a brief sketch about each one. A: Arianna is our oldest. She is 19. She attended Saugus Public Schools from kindergarten through 12th grade. She graduated from Saugus High School this past May – Class of 2019. She was 7th in her class ranking out of 186 kids slated to graduate. She took three AP classes during her high school career as well as being a member of National Honor Society, drama, tech, chorus, improv and a cappella. She is currently a freshman at Emerson College in Communications with a focus on Speech Pathology. Our second daughter, Victoria, is 15 and a sophomore at Saugus High School. She is in the Advanced Academy Program. She currently takes AP Environmental Science and AP U.S. History. She is part of the drama club, tech, the improv troupe and the Sachimes a cappella group. She is a High Honors student. Next we have Daniella, who is 8 years old. She is in third grade at the Waybright School. She takes gymnastics at the YMCA. She also takes a bimonthly sewing class at the Saugus Public Library. She is part of the homework club twice a week at school. She March 13, were your children sent home with homework or assignments? If there is a range in what classwork they received, you can explain briefl y. A: We were not sent home with any work on the last day of school. On the last day of school, I asked Ava’s fi rst grade teacher what we should work on in the absence of school. She did give me some hints but told me she was not allowed to assign work due to it being a state of emergency. This was troubling because Ava has her struggles in reading, and we were due to have a meeting with the teacher the following week, which obviously now is not happening. This is clearly not anyone’s fault. Both of my younger girls see the reading specialist for extra reading help. My older girls saw the same reading specialist in their elementary years. I have tremendous faith in her, and she has been the bridge for us between school and home reading. Since school has ended on March 13, the reading specialist has reached out. My daughter’s fi rst grade teacher has reached out. The high school principal has also reached out several times via email. My sophomore was given some work through several of her teachers on Google Classroom. She was getting assignments. It was great. She was focused and taking it seriously. ASKS | SEE PAGE 7 www.reverealuminumwindow.com
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