Saunder & Joy Primack

Saunder and Joy Primack have made a conscious decision to give back to their community. They believe education is important, so they volunteer within the school system.

Once a week, Sandy and Joy do a 2-hour reading block with on-level readers, freeing the teacher to work with below-level students. They prepare the lesson, guide the reading, ask questions and bring in additional information to support the story. On Fridays they do another 2-hour block conducting a Center Activity which all 5 groups rotate to for 20-minutes each. At the center they teach a math or science skill with a fun reinforcement or they help with research.

In the spring, they present the fifth-grade Junior Achievement program to students from 1-3 classes. They also do individualized tutoring in math. They are a part of the Mentoring team; help with the book fair each year, and much more.

The students consider it a special treat for the couple to join them for lunch in the cafeteria 2 days a week. The sharing time is just as valuable as the volunteer time in the classroom. The couple also joins in for holiday parties.

The students learn much more from this couple than classroom lessons. Joy is in a wheelchair from a stroke. Sandy's care and devotion to her shows them a beautiful example of how to treat handicapped people. Even though her speech is slowed, Joy's intelligence shows through and the children stop and respectfully listen when she talks to them.