Unique moment is ‘engaging’ affair

Teachers are trained to deal with surprises.

From changes in the weather to the waning moments of an antsy math class, teachers must make decisions on the fly. Nothing might have prepared one Berg Elementary School first-grade teacher, however, for last Thursday’s eye-opener.

Riley Gallagher’s fiancé, Jose Fragoso, showed up in her classroom with a huge surprise — an engagement ring. Gallagher said “yes” to the marriage proposal, and her students, who witnessed the unique moment, seemed pleased.

“Jose had never been to my classroom before, so it was quite a surprise for my students and I,” Gallagher said. “The students seemed to know that something exciting was going on.”

Berg Principal Jolene Comer said she was in on the secret, and happily helped distract Gallagher.

“Yes, it was a great surprise for her,” said Comer. “I was in there, reading to the class, to provide a distraction and then he walked in and popped the question.”

First-graders have varying levels of understand about what marriage is, and how engagement generally happens. However, Comer said Gallagher’s students were still ecstatic for what was clearly an emotional moment.

“Many thought she got married right then and there,” Comer said. “Her students were surprised and thrilled after they figured out what was happening.”

Gallagher said there was some explaining to do. Since most of the first-graders had probably not seen a marriage proposal in person before, happiness and a bit of confusion were both a part of the event.

“I don’t think they quite understood at first, until Mrs. Comer explained to them that it meant I was going to get married,” Gallagher said. “Even then, some of them thought that the proposal was actually us getting married. One student came to school the next day explaining that they needed to call me ‘Mrs.’ Gallagher because I got married.”

Fragoso and Gallagher are both from Brooklyn, and both went to Brooklyn-Guernsey-Malcom High School. They each live in Grinnell. Gallagher said the couple’s wedding won’t happen for a while.

“We haven’t set an exact date yet, but we are thinking September 2016,” she said. Gallagher said Fragoso’s trip to her classroom provided a learning experience for her students.

“After the proposal we talked a lot about how to treat guests that come in to our classroom in a respectful manner,” she said.

She said she hopes her students can learn from the example set by her fiancé.

“I hope that students learned a little bit about politeness, respect and how to treat each other,” Gallagher said. “And that everyone is special and deserves special things to happen to them.”

Contact Jason W. Brooks at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or jbrooks@newtondailynews.com.