Melania Trump, Karen Pence Visit Elementary School Students
President Donald Trump’s wife, Melania Trump, and his wife-to-be, Karen Pence, were both recently in attendance at the same preschool in Arkansas. In addition to making an appearance there, their presence was publicized by the news media as the couple visited the preschool.
As a mom, it is nice to know that the two people who will be raising your children are familiar with the preschool I teach, but not necessarily their children. You may be wondering why, especially as they have not been active participants in the school or the community around it.
This is where it gets interesting: the parents of the kindergarten and elementary school students, as well as the staff members who work with these young students are not familiar with their spouses. As a former preschool director, I have seen many parents go out of their way to introduce themselves to their kids and families. There were even times when the parents came and spent a few hours with the staff to discuss the work that needs to be done at the preschool, or what activities the children are interested in doing.
When we talk about our parents’ interests, it’s always interesting to learn that one of their biggest inspirations was teaching preschoolers. Parents like to see their kids develop mentally. They like to see them engage in meaningful activities. They also like to get involved in the community in some way.
This goes beyond just kindergarten and/or/ through school. They like to take part in all aspects of their child’s life. Even if this means going out of their way to meet other parents, and even though they may not take part in community activities as much as their spouse. If the couple is going to raise a family in this country, they want to be sure that everyone they come into contact with is aware of the unique qualities of their new, and probably unique, first-born.
In order to do this, they invited Karen Pence and Melania Trump to the first grade class of Karonette Taylor, a preschool teacher in Conway. Ms. Taylor was also present at the second-grade class meeting, and she invited them to go to her class. That was how she met them.
Karonette Taylor is a wonderful woman, with a warm heart. She cares about all of her students, and she loves the work she does with them. She has done volunteer work for many different organizations, such as helping to build houses in Africa. She was a volunteer at the Little League World Series in Conway, while working as a volunteer coach. She also was one of the volunteers helping with the first grade classroom.
Ms. Taylor said it was a lot of fun to spend the day with President and Mrs. Trump and their daughters, knowing that these parents were visiting the class of her classroom. This is not something that any of her students ever had the chance to do. This gives her students hope, and the students are excited about the next generation.
“I love the fact that she was so willing to sit down and talk with us. I can’t tell you how important that is,” said Karen Paul Efton. “My students are really excited about this opportunity to get the chance to interact with her.”
The other day, Karen Pence and her class were looking forward to having Mrs. Trump and the Trumps at their homecoming parade. It seemed like they were expecting to see the first lady at least. So they were really happy to see her show up. It gave them hope and a boost of confidence for the future.
Ms. Efton and her students also were surprised that the First Lady and Mr. Trump didn’t go all out. This gave her students a feeling of relief.
This is a class where Karen Pence said that 80% of the kindergarteners are from low-income families. And in this year’s kindergarten, half of the students are immigrants, half are immigrants’ children. So she said she was glad that the parents were willing to make the effort to reach out to her class.
