Teachers can feel stretched pretty thin. With decreasing school budgets and greater expectations of accountability from the state, educators can use all the help they can get. That is why school volunteers such as Elisabeth Roszel and Darrell Higginbotham are so invaluable.
For many years, both of these individuals have made a difference in the lives of many children in our community through their volunteerism. By volunteering in Lauren Magill’s 3rd and 4th-grade class at Estes Elementary School, they have led students to improved reading test scores as well as higher self-esteem.
There are a number of tasks that teachers need assistance with throughout the school day, so whether a volunteer can come for one hour or the whole school day, teachers will keep them busy.
In Magill’s class, volunteers might read with students while sharing their own passion for reading, help students organize their folders and desks or help the teacher with other clerical tasks. But one of the most valuable purposes that volunteers serve is being a role model and mentor for students, especially when it comes to the area of character development and social skills.
Darrell Higginbotham, president of Independence Bank, began volunteering at Estes as part of the “Owensboro Reads” program, an Owensboro Public Schools initiative. Currently, he is working on reading skills with two boys in Magill’s class.
“I have the obligation to give back to our community,” Higginbotham said in reference to his role at Independence Bank and his desire to serve others.
A community volunteer for many years, Higginbotham said the connection he builds with the students he has worked with over the years is what he finds most fulfilling about volunteering at Estes. As a matter of fact, the relationships he builds are so strong that Higginbotham stays in contact with those students even after they have moved on from Magill’s class.
He attends school assemblies and performances and says that he “can’t hold it together” when he attends the elementary school graduation. He is even working on a plan to visit former students for lunch at the middle school where they are now.
According to Magill, Higginbotham is diligently trying to learn the names of all the students in the classroom. He checks in on the students throughout the week and reads with them once a week.
“We were learning about the American Revolution and Mr. Darrell brought in a copy of some primary sources for the students to keep in the classroom,” Magill said. “They were amazed to see this stuff and thought it was so cool that Mr. Darrell knew about the things we were learning about.”
Elisabeth Roszel, Mrs. Betsy as she is known to the students, is 88 years young. She volunteers through the Retired Senior Volunteer Program. Like Darrell, she also works with two students on their reading skills and has volunteered with her current class for seven years.
“One boy [I work with] was retested in reading and his score went up,” Roszel said. “If I can be a reading coach, anyone can do it.”
Magill said having Roszel with her for the last seven years has brought consistency and a sense of comfort.
“She has been with me since my very first year of teaching,” Magill said. “I wouldn’t know what to do without my Tuesday reading buddy.”
Magill said Roszel is always bringing in new books for the students, which they are excited to read. She pays close attention to the students’ appearance and enthusiastically offers compliments about their clothing and hair.
“The kids love seeing Mrs. Betsy and I sometimes have to be careful when choosing who gets to read with her because so many students want to have time with her,” Magill said. “This year our class did a play and they insisted that Mrs. Betsy come. Seeing her in the audience was so wonderful and it meant the world to them.”
Anyone can be a volunteer in a local school, even if you do not have a child attending that school. To do so requires contacting that school and having a background check performed for the safety of the students.
“Being a volunteer in a school doesn’t mean you have to have a passion for education or for the academic content, you just have to have a passion that you are willing to share with kids,” Magill said. “This passion will impact the students, but also makes a tremendous impact on the teachers.”
