Gov. Kelly Ayotte, who’s prioritizing lifting reading scores in public schools, read a Dr. Seuss book to Auburn Village School students Thursday. Then she fielded questions from students – and they had several.
Seventh-grader Reid Wehling wanted to know how the Trump administration's Make America Healthy Again plan will affect New Hampshire?
Ayotte said she’s bringing back the annual Presidential Fitness Test, a competitive assessment for students, but didn’t say when.
Ayotte came to Auburn after a stop in Manchester, where she told a business crowd that she’s charged the commissioner of education to focus on improving reading scores. She didn’t share that with the students, but she did try to sell them on reading.
“I love to read because you know what? You can imagine so many things,” Ayotte told them. “Every story you bring, your imagination, you get into the characters. It really is so much fun.”
Ayotte was joined on stage by Megan Tuttle, president of the NEA-NH, the state's largest teachers' union.
Some students directed their questions to Tuttle. Third-grader Josephine Monroe asked: How long was she a teacher?
“I taught eighth grade for 18 years,” Tuttle said. “I never seemed to graduate out of eighth grade.”
Other students had several specific questions for Ayotte about her job.
Does she get time off and how does she use it? Yes – except she’s always on call. When she’s free she watches her son’s baseball games and plays with her dog, Thunder.
How does she deal with the stress of her job? Taking deep breaths, listening to her favorite songs, and asking for help.
Did she want to be governor when she was kid – no – and what, exactly, does a governor do – a lot of things, such as deciding what bills become laws.
“But the ultimate job of governor is to help people,” Ayotte said.
Eighth grader Thatcher Jenkins, who’s considering a legal career, asked Ayotte which legal case was her favorite. She said she couldn’t pick one but pointed to her work at the Attorney General's office, which she eventually led.
“I was actually a murder prosecutor,” Ayotte said. “And so I handled some criminal cases, and some of them were pretty serious. There were a number of cases that I worked on where I thought we were able to work on behalf of the people that were harmed.”