Partners in Education: a Salute to Tireless Work of Volunteers
Posted on: Monday, 12 May 2008, 09:00 CDT
By RUTHANNE GREELEY
Whether they are establishing partnerships to provide health care for students, coordinating music mentors, tutoring students in math or reading, or just being there to lend a hand wherever it's needed, volunteers are making a difference in our public schools.
The Santa Fe Public School District recognized its volunteers with a reception April 29, singling out more than a dozen of them for special awards.
The SFPS Volunteer of the Year award went to Bill and Georgia Carson, who were nominated for their tireless work gathering resources for Agua Fra Elementary School. They established a partnership with La Familia Medical Clinic to help meet the health needs of students and procured funding to augment nursing, physical education, health education and art instruction at the school. They've even introduced yoga classes for the teachers. Bill and Georgia have done similar work for many years at Salazar Elementary through the Salazar Partnership, and were named Santa Fe Living Treasures last year.
Named as Outstanding Volunteers:
* Bea Anaya, Atalaya, is there snow or sun. She helps with whatever is needed, from cleaning closets to running copies to helping in the office.
* Juan Andre, Cesar Ch vez, is known as "Juan in a million" for his work raising money for the school's Parent Teacher Organization to pay for field trips, award ceremonies, and other extras that the school would otherwise do without.
* Matthew Frauwirth, 16-plus schools, oversees a program that provides instrumental and vocal mentors to students free of charge. He also organizes free performances of professional chamber music groups for
12 elementary schools a year.
* Elizabeth Guss, Capshaw Middle School, volunteers nearly 20 hours per week tutoring math and pre-algebra. She also assists with statistics, record-keeping and special projects.
* Maureen Helfrich, Atalaya, checks daily to see what is needed at her school, and fills in wherever she's needed.
* Marilyn LaRowe, Cesar Ch vez, has donated one full day a week for 10 years and designed a lending library for students who don't have books at home.
* Mike Levin, Cesar Ch vez, works with 32 children each week in the Help One Student To Succeed program.
* Lynn Miller, Carlos Gilbert Elementary, is especially creative in working with hard-to-motivate students.
* Bernadette Ortega, Agua Fra Elementary, retired as an educational assistant, then returned to SFPS as a volunteer to work with severely disabled students.
* Terri Tafoya, Chaparral Elementary, decorates bulletin boards throughout the school, changing them to reflect holidays, current events and student birthdays; works at school events; brings in fresh baked treats for students and staff; and much, much more.
* Robert Vigil, Cesar Ch vez, has given 20 hours per week for 10 years, helping students, especially bilingual students, learn to read.
Congratulations to these and all the amazing Santa Feans who volunteer in our public schools.
Ruthanne Greeley is executive director for Partners in Education Foundation for the Santa Fe Public Schools. Founded in 1988, PIE works to improve public schools by linking the community with its schools, providing teachers and their students with the materials, equipment and services. For more information, contact 474-0240 or rgreeley@sfpartnersineducation.org.
(c) 2008 The Santa Fe New Mexican. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
Source: The Santa Fe New Mexican
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