Sippican School staff, administrators, and School Committee members honored the retiring “Queen of Kindergarten” during the meeting of the Marion School Committee on December 4.
Karen Santos has been a kindergarten paraprofessional at Sippican School for 25 years. She will be stepping down at the end of December.
To commemorate her years at Sippican School, School Committee Chairman Michelle Smith dedicated a copy of the book Extra Yarn, by Mac Barnett, to Santos.
Several School Committee members and Sippican School teachers honored Santos for her hard work and kindness, noting that Santos has always encouraged her students to be kind and make good choices. She also, they reported, is a “wonderful spirit,” helping others in need, keeping watch over her coworkers, and making sure they are well fed.
Sippican School Principal Marla Sirois dedicated her own choice of book to Santos: Pass it On, by Sophy Henn. Sirois then old the story of how the Queen of Kindergarten received her distinctive moniker.
“The new student asked who Mrs. Santos was,” Sirois reported, “and without hesitation, another student told him, “‘She’s the queen of kindergarten!’”
“We’re holding you to your promise to come visit us,” Sirois said to an emotional Santos, who laughed.
“I’ll be back here and there as a substitute,” she promised.
“Thank you so much for all of the time you’ve spent with our young ones,” Old Rochester Regional School District Superintendent Doug White told Santos. “Whenever I needed a pick-me-up, I knew exactly which hall to go down. Because of you, there are many, many Sippican students doing well today.”
Santos tearfully thanked the staff at Sippican for their support.
“I really don’t know what to say, which is unusual,” said Santos. “I love this job. I could probably keep doing it for another five or six years, but my family is changing. My kids are having kids. And guess what, Nana’s going to help. But I don’t want to say goodbye.”
During the meeting, Sirois also announced an upcoming ‘Toys for Tots’ drive. The drive will begin in the next week or two, once official letters come home with Sippican School students, she said.
“There will probably be boxes to collect toys in the front entryway area,” she explained. “We want that area to be a place where the community shows kindness.”
The school’s “kindness crew” does a Toys for Tots drive every summer, and the school will hold an all-school meeting soon for the drive soon.
The next meeting of the Marion School Committee will be held on January 15 at 6:30 pm at Sippican School.
Marion School Committee
By Andrea Ray