Caprio talks morals to kick off reading week at Gladstone

By Jen Cowart
Posted 4/26/17

By JEN COWART The students in the fourth and fifth grades at Gladstone Elementary School had a special visitor last Wednesday during National Reading Week as Judge Frank Caprio visited their class to pass along some wise words and to read them a story.

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Caprio talks morals to kick off reading week at Gladstone

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The students in the fourth and fifth grades at Gladstone Elementary School had a special visitor last Wednesday during National Reading Week as Judge Frank Caprio visited their class to pass along some wise words and to read them a story.

The students in Katie Politelli's class had just watched a YouTube video of Caprio before he came into the classroom, one in which he was dismissing a parking ticket for a local dad and requiring him to take his son to breakfast instead, as he had determined that the child was hungry.

When asked about the thought process behind that decision, and others he has made like it, Caprio had an important message for the students. "In life, you have to help other people," he said. "You have to feed the hungry, you have to help people on the stairs, it's what we have to do in life, and in my job, I have to do what I have to do under the law, but to make that father pay a $90 fine, is that better that the state get that money or is it better that the father be able to feed his son with that money? I dismissed that ticket and the son gets breakfast."

As Caprio read the story "Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters," a story about two sisters who have different philosophies in life about the importance of kindness and generosity towards others, he often stopped throughout, connecting the story's messages to his own message.

"In a family unit like this one, it's important to be kind to one another, to help each other and not to compete with each other," he said. "In this story, there are two sisters and one is very jealous of the other, while the other is very kind to animals, to people, to reptiles, and all of nature. There are some lessons we can learn from this story about which kind of person you should be."

As Caprio finished reading, he reminded the students of what is most important in life.

"The moral of this story fits right into the story of what you saw on YouTube today," he said. "Feed the hungry, help others, be kind."

Caprio took a group photo with the students in the class before moving on to the next classroom.

"This has made their whole week," said Principal Susan Buonanno. "Thank you for coming to read to them and for inspiring them."

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