Volunteering for duty

A salute to schools' 'service members'

Debra Melani, Special to the News

Published November 6, 2006 at midnight

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Judy Herbet adjusts her wire-rimmed glasses and scoots her undersize library chair closer to her third-grade student. As the little boy begins to read, she cocks her head slightly and follows the words.

"Good," she says as he finishes the prologue of Midnight on the Moon. "Now try this word again," she adds, pointing to the page. "Is this amazing rain forest?"

"Amazon!" the boy corrects himself.

"Ahh, that's better," Herbet says, smiling and nudging him on.

A proud teacher mentoring an emerging reader? Not exactly. Herbet, 81, is a volunteer at Eisenhower Elementary School, in Boulder, where she and her husband, Carl Herbet, 85, are known as Grandma Judy and Grandpa Carl.

With National Parent Volunteer Day coming up on Nov. 16 and the season of school parties and holiday programs right behind, volunteer advocates are encouraging people to help.

Volunteers offer students more one-on-one learning, a sense that other adults value their education, opportunities for holiday and other special events, and a greater feeling of safety and security, Eisenhower principal Charles Serns said.

In recognition of those who volunteer, the Rocky Mountain News profiles the Herbets and three other Colorado volunteers.

Carrie Hausfather

• Age: 50

• Residence: Boulder

• Occupation: secretary, Boulder Valley School District

• School: Manhattan Middle School of Arts and Academics, Boulder

• Children in school: one daughter, seventh grade, Manhattan; one daughter, 11th grade, Fairview High School, where Hausfather also volunteers

• Years of service: 12

• Projects: As PTO chairwoman, Hausfather has a long list of projects as diverse as compiling the student directory, orienting new parents and coordinating meals for teachers during conferences.

• Inspiration to volunteer: "I'm kind of a volunteer spirit anyway," said Hausfather, who helped in her daughters' preschools. "But when (her oldest) hit elementary school, I wanted to make sure she knew that education was really important to me."

• Inspiration to continue: "I really do enjoy interacting with the parents and feeling like I've helped the community in a very small way."

• Personal reward: Volunteering helps build strong friendships, Hausfather said. "You do end up meeting people with the same interests and goals."

Carl and Judy Herbet

• Ages: 85 and 81, respectively

• Residence: Boulder

• Occupations: retired

• School: Eisenhower Elementary, Boulder

• Children in school: none (grown)

• Years of service: 15

• Projects: The Herbets volunteer Tuesdays and Wednesdays at Eisenhower, where their daughter is a third-grade teacher. Judy Herbet re-shelves books and assists students with library searches. Carl Herbet grades homework or helps in his daughter's classroom. After lunch, the two read with third-graders. Judy Herbet hopes her love of books will inspire young minds, often sharing her childhood goal of reading every book in the library. Carl Herbet likes capturing students' attention with his World War II stories.

• Inspiration to volunteer: "We know how much the schools need us," Judy Herbet said.

• Inspiration to continue: "We'll be walking down the street and a car will honk and someone will wave and shout, 'Hi, Grandma and Grandpa!' " Judy Herbet said.

• Personal reward: It keeps the couple active, physically and mentally, Judy Herbet said. Unless icy sidewalks prevent it, they walk the 2-mile round trip. And they never grow tired of the children's inquisitive minds. "It makes me feel as though I'm still an asset," she said.

Judy Greco

• Age: 56

• Residence: Littleton

• Occupation: flight attendant, retired Columbine High School teacher

• School: Columbine High, Littleton

• Children in school: daughter, 11th grade, Columbine

• Years of service: 14

• Projects: Greco volunteers in the postgraduate center, helping students with financial-aid applications and scholarship searches. She also hosts college representatives who visit the school.

• Inspiration to volunteer: "I realized that schools don't have enough funding, and they really do rely on their parent volunteers," Greco said. As a retired high school teacher, Greco saw an even bigger need for volunteers at the secondary level.

"You tend to have a ton of volunteers at the elementary level, and then it starts to taper off." Parents assume middle- and high-school students don't need their involvement as much anymore, she said. "I think they need you more, especially emotionally."

Having been a Columbine teacher during the shootings, Greco believes increasing parental presence promotes safety. After this fall's spate of school shootings, Greco was invited to President Bush's October conference on school safety, which touched on the importance of parent volunteers, she said.

"When the tragedy first happened at Columbine, we had a ton of parents come out and patrol the hallways." The more adult presence on school campuses, the safer students can feel, Greco said.

• Inspiration to continue: "I grew up in the Kennedy era of 'Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country,' " she said. "I might not have a lot of talent, but I'm going to do what I can to help out."

• Personal reward: "It makes me feel good that I've contributed just a little piece of myself to make the world better." Greco sees years of volunteering ahead, even beyond her daughter's graduation. "I'm still going to volunteer there long after she's gone, because I'm part of the Columbine family."

Fred Patterson

• Age: 61

• Residence: Denver

• Occupation: retired; works part time for the American Automobile Association

• School: Whiteman Elementary School, Denver

• Children in school: none (grown)

• Years of service: 14

• Projects: Patterson directs a program called PALS, or Partners in Learning = Success. He recruits volunteers from businesses to mentor at-risk students. "Most of them come from broken families," Patterson said of the kids. "We’re like friends for them, somebody they can talk to. It can be a challenging volunteer job. "These kids are not always easy to approach," he said, but once volunteers form a bond, they begin focusing on academics.

• Inspiration to volunteer: Before Patterson retired from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, he sat on a committee that created a school-improvement plan for Whiteman. PALS came out of that plan. I came from a broken family, and I didn’t have any role models that I could look up to. I felt like I could give back to the community."

• Inspiration to continue: "I’m hooked right now. It’s a way of life, and there’s always work to be done."

• Personal reward: Seeing a student excel at a team sport or perform in a concert. At the end of each year, Patterson recognizes his PALS volunteers with plaques and a barbecue. "I don’t do it by myself."

The seed of support

• What: National Parental Involvement Day

• When: Nov. 16

• The start: Project Appleseed, a national campaign for public-school improvement founded in 1993. More than 3,500 school districts and 5 million parents have become involved.

• Why: "Parental involvement is the most effective school reform available," said Kevin Walker, Project Appleseed president.

• How: Parents can sign a volunteer pledge and find ways to volunteer at www.projectappleseed.org.

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