Volunteers help students, teachers make the grade

Volunteers help students, teachers make the grade

By D.A. WILKINSON

VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU

COLUMBIANA — On a cool winter morning there was something different at Joshua Dixon Elementary School.

Outside several of the classrooms, there were two tiny chairs and a tiny desk. An adult sat on one chair, and a series of children sat in the other.

Being outside the classroom used to mean trouble, but now it’s a help to teaching.

Kim Sharshan, Joshua Dixon principal, said Tuesday it is part of the district’s volunteer-parents program that has 64 members.

“We’d love to see more parents involved, definitely,” Sharshan said.

The parents come and help a teacher, generally for a couple of hours a day. The interaction, Sharshan said, “means that the better the involvement of the parents, the better the child performs.”

Most of the volunteers are women.

“We’d love to see more dads and grandparents,” the principal added.

The program is run by the school board through the district’s parent-teacher organization.

While a teacher is conducting the class, the volunteer is out in the hallway. Each student comes for a few minutes and answers questions as the volunteer reviews the work. The volunteer then passes that information back to the teacher.

“It helps the teacher help the kids,” Sharshan said. “Not all students are at the same level. Some do not start high or low. That can be frustrating for a child. A teacher helps to bring them up from there.”

In part, the volunteers help free up time for the teachers who would otherwise have to grade the work the volunteers critique.

Deanna McIntosh was sitting in one of the tiny chairs as her daughter, Mandy, a first-grader, was contemplating where to put black dots on a T-shirt — 101 dots to be exact.

School officials had promoted the 101 days so far in this year school, and the theme became part of the class work.

McIntosh said the exercise helps students with their counting, spelling and reading skills.

She added that helps students with “learning abut maps and the placement of things.”

That also leads to students’ learning about time lines, she said, and big events that were central in their lives.

“I think it’s a wonderful program and a place to establish relationships and learning,” she added.

The volunteers also have a book fair every year along with a Valentine Day’s party.

Kasey Kridler of Columbiana also was volunteering. Her son, Brady, turned 6 Monday.

“I like to interact with children and be part of the system,” she said.

Marily Saxton has three children, Lyndsey, T.J. and Delaney, in the schools.

She said that she gets to see her children while at school. She makes copies and helps review words for spelling contests.

“I feel my contribution helps the teacher,” she said.

wilkinson@vindy.com