Governor chats with students in Sayreville
Codey encourages reading during visit to a borough school
BY JOHN DUNPHY
Staff Writer

CHRIS KELLY staff Acting Gov. Richard Codey reads to students in Suzanne Grover’s class at Arleth Elementary School in Sayreville Tuesday.

The governor may have read “Tops and Bottoms,” but for the kids, his visit was simply the tops.

Arleth Elementary School third-graders in teacher Suzanne Grover’s class got a treat Tuesday morning when acting Gov. Richard J. Codey stopped in to read to the children.

Grover’s class had recently written papers on what they would do if they were governor, making Codey’s visit a fitting conclusion to the unit.

Some students said they would like to do such things as feed the poor, lower taxes and provide money for schools.

Alex Beccles said he would like to plant more trees.

“It would make more homes for the animals, and we’ll have more oxygen to breathe,” he said.

Amanda Imperato said she would knit blankets for new babies if she were governor.

“In the hospital, they don’t have many blankets,” she said.

The class was able to pull Codey from his busy schedule, which included a School Security Summit at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, the same morning, through student Tyra Humphrey. Her father, Darryl, is a state trooper who has served a security detail for the acting governor.

As Codey made his way into the school library, which by the time he arrived had filled with students, local political figures and reporters, the kids came to attention.

“Do you all like your teacher?” Codey asked, as the class responded with a resounding “Yeah!”

“That’ll get you an ‘A’,” he said with a laugh.

“‘Once upon a time, there was a very lazy kid,’” Codey began the story “Tops and Bottoms” by Janet Stevens. “Are any of you lazy?”

All the children responded with an equally resounding “No!” — all but one child, who admitted he was, in fact, lazy.

“We know he doesn’t have a future in politics,” the acting governor said.

As press continued to jot notes and cameras continued to click throughout his nearly one-hour visit, Codey retained a light rapport with the children, asking them questions pertaining to the story and answering a few inquiries from the children.

Some questions included what he liked to do when not working as governor (going out with his wife and friends for dinner and a movie); whether the governor had any pets (none, at least not since their last dog kept going after the mailman and pizza delivery person); and whether Codey ever thought he would become governor when he grew up.

“Never in a million years,” he responded, saying that when he was a kid he would have preferred to play basketball when he grew up.

A resident of West Orange, Codey told the class that famous inventor Thomas Edison had also once lived there.

“Is he alive,” one child asked.

“No, he’s not alive,” Codey answered.

When asked what he would be doing when his term as governor ends later this year, Codey said he planned on returning full-time to his role as state senator. As New Jersey senate president, Codey became acting governor in November when James McGreevey stepped down.

Tim Byrne, principal of the Washington Road school, said the governor’s visit comes at the height of the school’s “Take Flight and Read Program,” which asks students to read 3,000 books between March and June. So far, they’ve read 1,500, Byrne said.

“Having the governor come has been a great encouragement to the kids,” he said.

Codey concluded his visit by handing out books for the children, as well as miniature basketballs, each with his signature. Then it was off to Woodbridge, where he was to sign a bill into law before heading back to Trenton.

“If you want to succeed, you have to study hard,” he told the class. “The more you know, the more likely you’ll be successful in life.”