Duluth Community School Collaborative couldn't do our work without the dedication of wonderful volunteers in our community. We would like you to meet Carol Burns, one of our star volunteers!
How long have you been volunteering? I started at Grant [Elementary] in 2009. I was a "reading buddy” with several first and second grade kids.
What interests you about volunteering? I learned that kids needed help far before they began middle school, so in retirement I decided to concentrate on the primary grades, especially reading and language arts. By working under the umbrella of the Collaborative, I had the access to resources I needed to better help the kids and teachers. I have enormous respect for classroom teachers and hope to provide some one-on-one help in the classroom. It’s become an important part of my life in retirement and helps me feel I am still contributing to my community.
Do you have a special memory/story you'd like to share from your time volunteering? Every year there are special memories. There are special kids, special teachers, special moments. One is embodied in the picture attached. It’s from this year’s first grade outing to Chester Park. I am helping Carma build a boat which Sam, the Chester Park “ranger”, would put into the creek to see if it floated. It did!
Anything else you'd like to share with us? I am so grateful to the Collaborative for providing the framework for classroom volunteers. In Atlanta, I had to work hard to establish myself as a volunteer in a classroom. Here it has been much easier. At the beginning of the pandemic, the Collaborative helped my stay in touch with the second grade kids by facilitating a “pen-pal” relationship. I was happy to be back into the classroom this past year.
A special thank you from the DSCS team to Carol for her dedication to the students at Myers-Wilkins Elementary. Through her kindness, compassion, care and consistency she has become and integral part of the classroom as well as a caring adult in the lives of the students!