U.S. Education Undersecretary Hickok Visits Jeffreys Grove Elementary

August 29, 2001 - A class of second-graders at Jeffreys Grove Elementary told U.S. Education Undersecretary Eugene Hickok they liked to read about animals, space, Arthur, Amelia Bedelia, and Dr. Suess. They talked with Hickok in the school's library yesterday (August 28) when he stopped at the school as part of the federal agency's Back To School, Moving Forward tour.


U.S. Education Undersecretary Eugene Hickok reads to Jeffreys Grove students.

"Dr. Suess is fantastic," said Hickok to the students gathered around him. "The Cat and the Hat. Green Eggs and Ham. I've had green eggs and ham. I don't recommend it."

Encouraging mooing and clucking, Hickok read a book about a visit to the library by a group of farm animals. After the reading, he talked with students.

"You know what I like about Washington, DC?" asked Hickok. "First of all, I get to work for the president on trying to improve the schools for everybody. But what I really like is that I get the chance to leave and visit schools. So what I learn here, I can use to do a better job."

Hickok toured the school visiting Lee Brown's fifth grade class where he talked with students about their writing project, stories about a member of their family. In Susan Gilchrist's second-grade class students were reading. Hickok talked with students writing an article on the book, Those Fabulous Frogs, and heard from students who presented him a book of essays entitled 'If I were President.'

Hickok was named Undersecretary of Education earlier this year by President Bush after having served as Pennsylvania's Secretary of Education for six years. As part of the Back To School, Moving Forward tour, U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige and Hickok have met with students, parents, educators, and community and civic leaders to discuss their initiatives to ensure every child in America receives a quality education.

When his reading group returned to their class, Hickok talked with a group of Jeffreys Grove parents.

"What you're doing means a great deal," said Hickok. "I know this is a very successful school, and I wanted to come and celebrate that success. Such success could not happen without parents like yourselves. Thank you for what you are doing."

Hickok told the gathering of 35 parents and educators that the most important predictor of student success is parental involvement.

Hear Undersecretary Hickok read to students

Hickok reads Books, Books, Books to Jeffreys Grove class :58 seconds .wav file

If I Were President essays by Susan Gilchrist's second graders

"It's not just parental involvement in the school," Hickok explained. "It's parental involvement before and after. It's not just making sure they're doing their homework which has kind of an oversight tone to it, although that's part of it. It's when you read to a child early on making sure that you complete the book, that you engage the child in the reading. You are trying to help them read as much as you are reading to them. And read to them as early as possible. We know that if a child can read by grade three the chances of success for that child are exponentially greater than the child who cannot. We know that of the kids who are dropping out of high school, the kids who are ending up as juvenile delinquents and problem students, the best predictor of why they are where they are is their inability to read, which is a tragedy when you think about it."

Hickok said that it is critical to reach out to all children, especially in their early years.

"There are no bad kids," said Hickok. "There are kids who have problems and kids who are challenges. If you can remember, at least at this age, they all start out fresh. Their eyes are wide open and their minds are like sponges. If we can capitalize upon that, it can save a lot of lives."

Hickok said public schools should seek to achieve at a higher level.

"Our goal should be excellence," said Hickok. "I think in far too many places it's accept what we can accept. So our challenge is to focus on seeking excellence. But it's very tough. I tell people all the time that we tend to confuse education and schooling. Education starts long before a child enters school. If we did a better job of thinking about that, about what happens in the years before a child enters kindergarten, things could be dramatically different. If we could think about the fact that after children leave school, at the end of the school day that's not when education stops. But our national mentality is that we think in terms of school days, school years, school calendars, school buildings. And we live in a time when all of that can change. You are talking about these kinds of changes in North Carolina."

Hickok said that parents are looking for educational options that provide them more control in meeting the needs of their children. He said that technology and the new economy are having an impact on education and pointed to a discussion over the Internet he witnessed between students in Erie, Pennsylvania and Dublin, Ireland.

"The frame of reference in which these young people will grow up in is so dramatically different from the frame of reference that we grew up in," said Hickok. "The time to digest information, the time to understand it, and make it usable is decreasing dramatically. We can't slow down the world. We can't turn off all the bad stuff on TV and the movies. We're going to have to find ways to adjust to that change."

Hickok closed urging the parents to help their children by slowing down their busy lifestyles, giving needed attention, and giving "hugs, hugs, and more hugs."

U.S. Department of Education Back to School, Moving Forward tour