A kid’s view on Unionville Board of Ed. candidates

By Kenny McGann, Special Correspondent, UnionvilleTimes.com

Kenny McGann goes over his notes while writing this column.

EAST MARLBOROUGH — What do I know about education, I just go to fourth grade every day at Pocopson Elementary.

It was Take Your Kid To Work day and I pestered my dad to go with him to work — and you see his work here. That’s how I got stuck at a long meeting with a bunch of school board candidates and a lot of stuff I didn’t totally get. While I really wanted to write this, my dad made me write this Sunday morning, or I wouldn’t get my favorite pancakes at Longwood Restaurant, so you know he’s both mean sometimes as an editor and a dad, but most of the time he’s okay.

So, here goes, a 10-year-old Kids perspective of the Meet the Candidates meeting on Thursday April 28th 2011 at Unionville Elementary School.

I thought it was very cool at some times, but at other times I didn’t know what they were talking about. My dad says that’s actually pretty normal, as sometimes nobody quite understands what they’re talking about.

The strangest thing is that I think they were really good friends, all these candidates. They were telling each other jokes and laughing around. They were just being themselves out there and having fun. It really surprised me a lot. They were always respecting each other and getting laughs out of it, too. The weirdest thing was the only two that are running against each other seemed to be buddies the most: Victor DuPuis and Robert MacPherson. They were joking around and really having lots of fun.

I thought this meeting was cool because the audience got to ask questions by using cards and people were collecting them and bringing them to a stand where they got approved and then the question reader read them to the candidates. I also thought it was cool because all the candidates were awesome in their own unique way. Like Victor DuPuis and Robert MacPherson were really funny.

But I also thought it was boring in some ways, too. That’s because they answered the questions predictably. I almost think my twin sister Janet fell asleep because people kept saying the same thing over and over, but she had nothing to do, and I had to keep taking notes.

It was an exciting at a ton of times for me, too, because I thought the questions were good, just like the candidates. They got along very well and they seemed like they’ve been friends for 20 years. All their personalities were great.

There where some things I did not understand, like budget cuts and the teachers’ contract and why they would cut transportation and middle school athletics. I would like to play on a football team when I’m at Patton. But most of them wanted to cut tax increases and I can see that they all seemed great so I think if any of them get on to the school board we’ll have a great school district next year.

So that is my perspective of the 2011 meet the candidates meeting.

[EDITORS NOTE] — This was really written by Kenny and only very lightly edited for grammar, not content. And yes, he did get his pancakes.