By Kelly Kandra Hughes

In 1998, Sergeant Richard Byrne retired from the Airport Division of the State Police. Looking for a way to spend his newfound free time, Byrne began volunteering at Botelle Elementary School, since his oldest granddaughter, Angelina Mary, was a student there. Twenty-one years later, Byrne is still active at Botelle. “It’s something I can do to help the kids,” says Byrne of his volunteering. “My church [St. Martin of Tours Parish, Immaculate Conception Church] also encourages us to reach out. We call it stewardship, and that’s another part of the reason I come here.”

There are currently 90 students enrolled at Botelle, with seven classroom teachers and approximately five paraprofessionals. Having more volunteers like Byrne is something the school would definitely like to achieve. “Yes! We would love to have more volunteers,” says Principal Lauren Valentino. “Volunteers from town enrich the connectedness of the community. When adults volunteer with children, they create a special bond that goes beyond the walls of the school.”

First/second-grade teacher Debbie Tallon agrees. “The more people the students meet and talk to, it enriches their lives. It’s good for them to have someone to share different perspectives and talk to them about how they may see things differently.”

As a Botelle volunteer myself, I agree. But I would add that interacting with the students enriches my life, too. I’ve been volunteering at Botelle once a week for over a year, and not a Thursday goes by where those kids haven’t brightened my day. They greet me with huge smiles, and we chat about what they’ve been doing and what books they’re reading. 

Volunteers are especially needed at Botelle for math and literacy. These subjects are typically taught in learning centers where students work in groups of two to four. The teacher will work with one group while the other groups work independently on a math, reading or writing skill. Having more adults in the room gives the other groups more guided learning. The volunteers can help make sure the students stay on track and can answer students’ questions to help clarify the material. 

This is how Byrne currently spends part of his time with sixth-grade students. He laughs about how he had to get used to a new sixth-grade math textbook this year, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle. “I’m able to encourage and help the students, see where they’re at and get them through what they have to do.” 

Byrne brought me a copy of the sixth-grade math textbook to peruse while I was in the first/second-grade classroom. As I flipped through it, some of the younger students boggled at the advanced math. “Someday, you’ll be able to do this,” I told them. “Someday is tomorrow,” replied one of them in a voice of grave concern. I laughed and assured her that I meant many, many somedays from now. It’s interactions like this that keep me coming back to Botelle every week. 

Each volunteer day is different. One week we’ll play addition games in the first/second-grade classroom using building blocks and dice, while another week I encourage students to write stories about snow days or what makes them unique. For their 100th day of school, I celebrated with the pre-K/K students by joining with the students in a train and choo-chooing around the classroom as we added 100 heart ornaments to a Christmas tree. I’ve also sat in on a schoolwide Black History Month presentation, climbed into a mobile planetarium, petted a turtle named Tobey from Roaring Brook Nature Center, and shopped with students at the Scholastic Book Fair. 

One of my favorite volunteer activities is reading with the students. It’s hard to believe that simply sitting with a child and listening to them read counts as volunteering, but Tallon says it helps in the classroom a great deal. “Kids love reading to adults,” she says. “Even if you only have 30 minutes a week, listening to a child read is such a great way to interact with them.” Byrne adds, “There’s always something you can do to help.”

Volunteers at Botelle are welcome to start at any time of the year.  If you are interested in volunteering, contact Lauren Valentino at valentinol@botelleschool.org for more information.  

Photo: Richard Byrne, shown here with third-grade teacher Tory Waldeisen and students, has been volunteering at Botelle for over 20 years. Photo by Kelly Kandra Hughes.