SENIOR VOLUNTEER TUTORS AT KING ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

King Elementary is a hub of activity – both in shape and in scope. The award-winning school excels in an atmosphere where the assigned volunteers of the Louisville & Jefferson County, Kentucky Community Action Agency’s Seniors In Service (Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, Foster Grandparent Program and Family Friends Program) are considered as team members with staff. These 16 senior volunteers are focal points in the school’s ability to plan and implement scholastic assessments and achievements. They provided 4,150 service hours during calendar year 2000!

Over 400 students, K-5, are offered innovative, competitive and creative opportunities that build on the basic educational norms. The volunteers are an integral part of providing the foundation of academic achievements that enable students to reach beyond their initial obstacles to learning. The consistent, caring dedication of the RSVP, FGP and FFP volunteers is also a year-round constant as they move from school calendars to summer programming for an expanded age base that welcomes K-12.

In conjunction with the on-site Family Resource Center, the Big Brothers/Big Sisters, local YMCA and Vista; the senior volunteers continue their tutoring throughout summer months – preventing the normal reading regression experienced by students during their “off time.”

The energetic volunteers may be found in any of the “open space” classrooms. Often they are the safety valve for an emotionally upset child who needs more than just a teacher’s situational judgment.

Principal, Mae Kennerly, proudly proclaims the praises of these volunteers. And, the volunteers return her regard. The on-going training and support the staff gives the volunteers is also evidence of Kennerly’s standards of administrative excellence. The Resource Center Manager, Buddy Lee, shared monthly updates on new teaching and classroom management techniques.

The volunteers eagerly affirm that their duties give them great pleasure and a wonderful sense of accomplishment. They are not glory seeking, but are recognized with pizza parties, certificates, hearty doses of genuine affection from the children and deep gratitude from the parents. In addition, the RSVP, FGP and Family Friends Programs also participate in special days of acknowledgment for outstanding impact.

From an amazing 2nd Place finish against 800 teams of middle and high school students in a statewide stock market studies competition, “field day” rafting experiences on the Ohio River, performing arts groups in demand for public and private ceremonies, as a Kentucky Department of Education “Rewards Status” school, to partnership with a local bank; the volunteers of King Elementary help to make the school and community a better place.