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Avis Elementary students chosen to meet virtually with Gov. Shapiro

By Pat Crossley 5 min read

AVIS -- Fifth grade students at Avis Elementary had the opportunity to ask Gov. Josh Shapiro his opinion on a four-day school week as they were chosen from 100 participants from schools in the state to meet with the governor via Zoom.

The session was arranged through the Rendell Center for Civic Engagement, which seeks to increase student engagement and involvement in civics.

Students of fifth grade teachers Nicole Allison and Sara Smith had debated about what to ask the governor and decided, although not unanimously, on the topic of shortening the time spent in school.

"I think they really just took this by the reins and owned it," Allison said.

"I was really excited to see how much they put forth in this, how much they really researched and worked together. Even though they didn't always agree, they came to a vote, and that is how we came to the topic. We voted," Allison said.

Smith agreed with Allison's assessment.

"It was really neat to watch them -- once they picked the topic, they really debated it. They were able to back up their opinions with facts. It was just really neat to watch them compile this and put it all together," Smith said.

When the students at Avis heard they were one of 10 classes to be chosen, Allison said they were "very excited."

Although they were excited and nervous about speaking with the governor, his answer may not have been what some of the students wanted to hear.

"I think I would need you to write me a longer essay with the pros and cons about why we should have a four-day school week as opposed to a five-day school week. And if I may, I don't know if I'm allowed to give out homework here, that's for your teachers," Shapiro said.

"I would also love you to write a section on what time schools should start because that's a big debate," he added.

When Allison told the governor that the students had debated and researched before deciding on the question, Shapiro said that he would love to read their answers.

But, then it was time to answer the question and the governor, diplomatically, offered his opinion.

"I guess what I would say is I'm not sure I'm ready to sort of embrace the idea of a four-day school week," Shapiro said.

"But here's what I will say. I think we learned a lot during COVID...I think we learned a lot about good ways to learn and bad ways to learn. The last thing I would want is to force everybody to go back and learn online. Because for some kids, it's great. For others it's not. But I think we learned that there are some things we can do online that might, in some ways, even bring us closer together and allow us to see different things. And so maybe instead of losing a day of learning each week, maybe we could find different ways to do more field trips or more things online or more collaborative work with local businesses or local unions, things like that. So I'd be really open to that, that kind of stuff.

"Not sure I'm open to giving you less time in school," he said. "Although I wouldn't be opposed to giving you at least one less day of homework a week. I think homework is way overrated. You should go home and play instead of doing homework, but I would love to kind of see what you guys have written on this. And I'll share it with my secretary of education, who makes a lot of these decisions, and maybe we can incorporate some of your ideas into a new law here."

The four students who had acted as spokespersons for their classes in presenting the question to Shapiro admitted that they were nervous in the lead-up to the virtual conversation.

"I think that for me it was nerve-wracking, but amazing at the same time," said fifth-grader Zoe Smith.

"I was nervous because I didn't want to mess up because he's really good, a really important person and I want to make a good impression on him. I think it was amazing to meet with him," Zoe said.

She did not, however, agree with the governor's answer to the question, especially the part about doing some things online, because of the lack of internet service throughout the district.

Thane Jones, who helped deliver the question, was not in the four-day school week camp, but did like what the governor said about taking field trips and working with local businesses.

"The experience was very cool to get to speak with him on Zoom and see his response about it," Addy Swales said.

Her fellow fifth-grader, Zane Wall, also thought it was a "really good experience being able to talk with him and see what his answer was like."

Starting at /week.