Transcript: Mayor de Blasio, Chancellor Porter Read to a First Grade Class at P.S. 377

September 21, 2021

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Everybody ready? 
  
Audience: Yeah! 
  
Mayor: Okay. So, I want to ask first, has anybody read this book before? 
  
Audience: Yeah! 
  
Mayor: You have. Anybody else? Alma and How She Got Her Name, anybody read it? Okay, so this is going to be an exciting, new book. I'm as excited as Ms. Barreto is, was very excited about it. Alright, everybody. So, first that's the name of the book. We always start with that. Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal. Okay, here we go. There we go. Okay, “Alma” – this is her – “Sophia Esperanza Jose Pura Candela had a long name.” That's pretty long, right? Okay, “too long if you asked her.” Okay, “‘my name is so long, daddy, it never fits,’ Alma said. ‘come here,’ he said. ‘Let me tell you the story of your name. Then you decide if it fits.’” So I want to hear what you think— 
  
Ms. Crystal Barreto: Aren’t you imagining that right now? 
  
Mayor: I'm imagining right now what Alma's thinking. I'm imagining what – yup, so – I imagine that Alma is not feeling so good about her name because she feels it's kind of weird, okay? She thinks it's really too long. But I think her dad's about to offer her some new ideas of how to think about her name. Okay. You see he's reaching for a book. Let's see what's in it. “‘Sophia, was your grandmother,’ he began. ‘She loved books, poetry, jasmine flowers, and of course, me. She was the one who taught me how to read.’” And there’s Sophia. So we're learning more about each part of the name. 
  
Now, “Alma says ‘I love books and flowers and you too, dad.’” Okay. Now, that is how Sophia became part of her name. We're learning – it's like we're getting the clues to the mystery. So now we know how Sophia became part of her name, okay? So that's Sophia. Now, Esperanza is also part of her name. So it says, “‘Esperanza was your great grandmother.’” This is her daddy telling her “‘Esperanza was your great-grandmother. She hoped to travel, but never left the city where she was born. Her only son grew up to cross the seven seas and wherever her sailor son went, so did Esperanza's heart.’” It's a very interesting phrase. That deserves discussion too.  
  
Ms. Barreto: You only have 10 minutes. 
  
Mayor: Okay. Now look at this. “‘The world is so big, I want to go see it, daddy. You and me together.’” Okay, now that is how Esperanza became part of her name. You see how we're learning more about where's she got this super long name, right? There's a lot more to the story, right? Okay, yeah. “‘Jose was my father,’ Alma’s daddy said. ‘He was an artist with a big family like many people had back then. Early each morning, he walked to the mountains and the plazas to paint everyday life. Sometimes I went along. Your grandfather taught me to see and love our people.’” 

Okay, when do we get our discussion going? I want to hear it's coming. Okay. And he said – “and then Alma says, ‘I wake up early every day and I draw a lot too!’” So Alma is like the artist that came before her. “‘I draw a lot too. This morning I drew a kitty cat for you, daddy.’” Alright, ready everyone? Now, we got to hear from you. I want to, how are you imagining, and you've heard this much so far. How are you imagining how Alma feels about her name now that she's gotten all this new information from her daddy, how do you feel and imagine that Alma is feeling about her name. 
  
Audience: Happy. 
  
Mayor: Happy. Why do you think happy? 
  
Audience: [Inaudible] 
  
Mayor: That's right, that’s excellent. Who else? Yes.  
  
Audience: [Inaudible] 
  
Mayor: Say a little louder. 
  
Audience: [Inaudible] 
  
Mayor: Exactly, excellent. Who else? Yes.  
  
Audience: [Inaudible] 
  
Mayor: Yep, excellent. Anybody else? 
  
Audience: [Inaudible] 
  
Mayor: You see? Exactly. Exactly. Very good. You guys did great. Okay, now wait, there's more. We’re going to learn some more. “‘Pura was your great aunt. She believed that the spirits of our ancestors are always with us watching over us. When you were born, she tied a red string around your wrist as a charm to keep you safe.’” Okay? Now, and see, and Alma says, “Hello, Pura. It's me Alma” because she's imagining, and Pura is right there with her. Okay, Candela, this another part of her name, “Candela was your other grandmother. She always stood up for what was right.” Okay, so you see these signs here. So Candela is holding up the signs with other people, and one says “denuncia”, one says, “escucha”, escucha means listen. “Piensa” means think, and then here’s Alma holding up a sign that says “I am Candela”. Alma says, oh, I'm sorry – No, this is – no, this is Alma talking, Alma says “I love the story of my name, now tell me about Alma. Daddy. Where does that name come from?” And he says, “I picked the name Alma, just for you. You are the first and the only Alma, and you will make your own story.” Okay. Now - what do you think now? What do you imagine Alma is feeling now? Go ahead.

Audience: [Inaudible]
 
Ms. Barreto: You want to think about it a little more.

Mayor: You think about what she’s thinking. Okay, wait, go ahead. Your turn.

Audience: I think she’s happy. 

Mayor: She’s happy? Why do you think that? 

Audience: Because the name [inaudible] -

Ms. Barreto: Because her name is special? What makes her name special? Like what makes you feel like she is happy about it? 

Audience: [Inaudible] -

Ms. Barreto: [Inaudible] – 

Mayor: Alright, who else, yeah? 

Audience: [Inaudible] – She’s the only Alma. 

Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter: Yes. 

Mayor: She’s the only Alma, that’s a great point. Okay, what else? 

Audience: I think she’s [inaudible] very excited [inaudible] –

Mayor: I like that, I like that – 

Chancellor Porter: Excited, so happy. 

Mayor: Exactly, excited. And you're right, it's exciting because she learned something new that she didn't know, and now she's seeing things really differently. Okay. So, “Alma Sophia, Esperanza Jose Pura, Candela.” She says, “That's my name and it fits me just right. I am Alma and I have a story to tell.” Okay, now why is to – why do you think Alma feels now her name is special. She didn't like her name now. She feels it's a special name.

Audience: [Inaudible] 

Mayor: Really, okay – 

Chancellor Porter: So, you make a connection to Alma.

Mayor: Yeah. Now why do you think she thinks it’s special?

Audience: [Inaudible].

Mayor: Grateful, very good. 

Ms. Barreto: Can I stop us for a second? 

Mayor: Please.

Ms. Barreto: Can we just take a second, and I want us to think about why is your name so very special? Why is your name so very special? And I want you to turn to your partner and talk about why it's so very special. Do you think we could do that? I want you to take a second and think, why is your name so special? Turn to the person sitting next to you, go ahead.

[Crosstalk begins]

Ms. Barreto: Okay, let’s come back together.  Chancellor Porter, did you hear anybody talking about why and how special their names are? 

Chancellor Porter: So, my friend, he talked about –

Ms. Barreto: Guys, let’s come back together.

Mayor: Very cool, alright – 

[Crosstalk ends]

Chancellor Porter: We talked about how special our names are because they are from our family – 

Ms. Barreto: I love it –

Chancellor Porter: And they are uniquely spelled, so it was really exciting

Ms. Barreto: Amazing. And what about you, Mayor, did you hear anything? 

Mayor: I heard really cool things about how my friends here got their names. And how your name, one of the reasons you got your name was because of Santa Claus. 

Ms. Barreto: Oh my, that’s a cool story. 

Mayor: That’s very cool. 

Ms. Barreto:  Can we thank our Mayor for visiting and reading with us? 

Audience: Thank you!

[Applause] 

Mayor: Thank you, I want to thank all of you guys. Can I just say, you have a great teacher, other teachers, great teachers, all. Thank you, teachers for everything you're doing.  

Ms. Barreto: Yes, [inaudible], these are wonderful teachers.

Mayor: You've got a very enthusiastic literacy coach, and I want to say, you guys are really smart. You’re really smart because you saw all the ideas in the story and you immediately spoke about it. Thank you, really great to meet you. It makes me very proud of this city that we have such smart kids. So, I'm going to give you around of applause. Thank you. 

[Applause] 

Ms. Barreto: Thank you, Mayor. 

Mayor: Thank you, great job. Thank you for the instruction. 

Chancellor Porter: Thank you, so nice to meet you. 

Ms. Barreto: We’re going to take a picture, Mr. Mayor. Boys and girls, just stand in front of the Mayor and Chancellor. We’re going to take a picture. 

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