My Favorite Volunteer

Emily watching as Mema helps with a project in our kindergarten class.  

 

 

 

Tomorrow is the first day of school at Chouteau Elementary.  In the depths of the building, in a room off of the fourth grade classroom, sits Mema's sewing machine.  We gave it to one of Mema's favorite teachers who sews with her kids every year.  Mrs. McBurney's kids make quilts and pillows.  When Emily was in her class, Mema volunteered to help with some of the projects.  But she was always my volunteer first.

Before I became the school's librarian, I taught Pre-K and Kindergarten.  When Sarah was old enough to start school, she was in my half-day Pre-K class.  Every day at lunch time, Mema would bring Emily up to the school and we would all eat lunch in the cafeteria together.  This continued the next year when Sarah and I graduated to full-day Kindergarten and Emily started Pre-K.  Mema would come to pick Emily up and we ate with my whole Kindergarten class.

Finally, both girls were in school all day.  Mema was free to come to the school to help out with projects.  Sometimes she would just come up and bring me lunch.  My favorite part of the day, though, was about fifteen minutes before school was out.  While I was reading to my class and wrapping up the day, Mema would show up in the back of my classroom and start wiping down the tables with Clorox wipes and putting the chairs up on the tables.  If we had been really messy, she would even sweep up around the classroom.  It didn't matter that we had a custodian, she just wanted to make sure the tables were clean and the kids stayed healthy.  She did this for almost three years--without fail--until she got sick. 

After that, I cleaned my own tables and put up  my own chairs.  I'm a big girl, I could do it.  The thing that made me sad was that the kids missed out on her loving presence.  My kindergartners loved her, and many of them called her "Mema".  She got to know many of them, and I know she made a difference in their lives.

So, we start school tomorrow in our new building.  She isn't here to volunteer anymore, but her sewing machine will continue her service to the Chouteau community.  Sew on Mrs. McBurney!!!