Hugs at Propel Montour for new Lt. Gov. Cawley
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Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley observes fifth-graders, from left, McKenna Battista, 11, of Pittsburgh, Dwayne Rankin, 11, of West Allegheny, Jonathan Knoll, 11, and Kyle Kowalewski, 10, of Pittsburgh, as he tours the Propel Montour charter school in Kennedy last Thursday.
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It's not every day that a politician is greeted with smiles, hugs and multiple declarations of love.
But that's the reception Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley received last Thursday at Propel Montour charter school in Kennedy. Teachers and administrators were very welcoming, but students were positively effusive, especially those in kindergarten and first grade.
Did the students understand who he was?
One first-grader explained that the teacher had shown the students a picture of the lieutenant governor on a computer.
"So do I look better in person or on the computer?" Mr. Cawley asked the class.
That prompted a round of hugs from the young children. A little girl declared, "I Love You!" prompting a chorus of "I love you" from others.
The scene would be repeated in other classrooms.
Propel Montour is a charter school that opened in 2007. A total of 400 students are enrolled in kindergarten through eighth grade. A total of 2,000 students are enrolled in six Propel schools in Allegheny County, and Propel officials said 2,200 students were on a waiting list.
Propel students come from 21 public school districts. In the Montour school, most come from Pittsburgh or the Sto-Rox district.
Mr. Cawley spent nearly two hours in the school, visiting multiple classrooms, asking students about their school work and meeting with Propel administrators.
Asked why he included this school on his itinerary, Mr. Cawley said: "Gov. Corbett and I have continued to demonstrate our interest in all forms of education. We are going to different providers of education who are getting it right."
Propel is "growing by leaps and bounds, so they must be doing something right," he said. State officials are "trying to replicate what is successful."
He said he recently met with officials from a cyber charter school and with home school advocates.
First Published March 3, 2011 5:24 am
