2005 NRTA With Our Youth! Award Recipients
The NRTA With Our Youth! program is a volunteer service initiative implemented by retired educators' associations and open to 50+ adults nationwide. Volunteers work with children and youth to provide meaningful educational and life-skills support. The NRTA With Our Youth! program grew out of a commitment NRTA made during the 1997 Colin Powell-led President's Summit for America's Future.
During the first three years of the NRTA With Our Youth! program, volunteers tracked and recorded community service hours. Retired educators reached over 1.5 million youth and contributed over 45 million service hours in more than 2,000 communities. The NRTA With Our Youth! program continues to grow and expand. Through these efforts, youth have been inspired to reach their full potential because an adult took the time to be a part of their lives.
The Sixth Annual NRTA With Our Youth! awards were presented in San Francisco, CA on August 14, 2005 during NRTA's national leadership conference. Award recipients included:
2005 With Our Youth! Innovation Award
State
Louisiana Retired Teachers Association
Hurricane Relief Fund
How do you describe a hurricane? The dictionary calls it "a violent storm, characterized by extreme fury and sudden changes of the wind, and generally accompanied by rain, thunder and lightning." On Friday, August 13, 2004, Hurricane Charley arrived on the southwest coast of Florida with extreme fury and vengeance. At its worst, wind gusts of this category-4 hurricane, topped 180 mph.
At the same time, NRTA's national network of state retired educators associations gathered in Washington, D.C. for the national leadership conference. They watched newscasts with sadness as the fatalities, injuries and destruction mounted. Since that first Friday, Florida suffered three more devastating hurricanes.
Leaders of the Louisiana Retired Teachers Association (LRTA) knew what it is like to survive a hurricane. After talking to their colleagues at the Florida Retired Educators Association, LRTA and the LRTA Foundation joined forces to form the Hurricane Relief Fund to support Florida schools.
In states from Maine to California, retired educators rallied to support LRTA's fund. Thanks to LRTA's leadership and the collective efforts of over 3,000 retired educators nationwide, the Hurricane Relief Fund raised $36,000. The funds were used to purchase $100 gift cards for classroom supplies. LRTA representatives traveled to Florida and joined with Florida Retired Educator Association (FREA) members to personally distribute the gift cards. One teacher commented, "That is the kind of moral support we needed to help keep us going." Florida's hurricanes, in their "extreme fury," could not stop the swell of support by LRTA, FREA and the nation's retired educators.
2005 With Our Youth! Excellence Award
State
Texas Retired Teachers Association
Children’s Book Project
"Do I really get to keep this book?" asked one student who received a gift-wrapped book from the Texas Retired Teachers Association's Children's Book Project. The answer was "yes." In fact, members of the Texas Retired Teachers Association said "yes" to 50,584 children in 2004. Retired educators distributed books throughout the year, including during the holidays. Some students kept their books wrapped and waited until Christmas day to open them, since these books were the only gifts they would receive.
Launched in 2000, TRTA's Children's Book Project secured and distributed 1,000 books in its first year. By 2004, 2,500 adult volunteers raised funds, purchased and distributed over 50,000 books statewide. The movement didn't stop there. Volunteers not only provided books, they read to children in low income areas and communities where readings skills are deficient. One child remarked, "I don't have a book of my own at home."
Volunteers on the local level found creative ways to raise funds. The Hurst-Euless-Bedford Retired School Employees enlisted Outback Steakhouse to provide a "Burger for Books" hamburger cookout. Friends, neighbors and community members purchased so many tickets that volunteers bought 3,500 books and distributed them to every school in their district.
Helen Hayes, the first lady of American theater said, "From your parents you learn love and laughter and how to put one foot before the other. But when books are opened, you discover that you have wings." Thanks to TRTA, over 50,000 children have discovered their wings and are soaring to new heights.
Local
Central Alaska Retired Teachers Association
Project Little Guys
Anchorage, Alaska
According to the Family Violence Protection Fund, studies estimate that between 3.3 and ten million children are exposed to domestic violence annually. In Anchorage, Alaska, women and children can seek refuge from this violence at the Abused Women's Aid in Crisis Shelter.
The shelter advocates for everyone's right to live in a fear-free environment. The Central Alaska Retired Teachers Association (CARTA) took that right one step further by creating "Project Little Guys." The project was created in response to the fact that most recently, 200 of the 400 children housed at the shelter are 6 years old or younger. Most often, these children are whisked away from their homes with little or nothing in the way of clothing and other necessities.
Through "Project Little Guys," volunteers raised nearly $5,000 to purchase those lost necessities. With a specific list provided by the shelter, members spent hours shopping for each child. They also collected clothing and supplies for the residents. During March, April and May, members created a special "Summer Fun Fund" and raised $1,000 to provide the children with trips to the zoo, museums, movie theaters and other activities.
The poet, philosopher and artist Kahlil Gibran wrote, "Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair but manifestations of strength and resolution." In Anchorage, retired educators are flexing their muscles on behalf of the little guys and in turn, showing them a peaceful and fear-free environment.
Erie County Chapter
Pennsylvania Association of School Retirees
Kids Café
Erie, Pennsylvania
It's hard to believe that 13 million children in the U.S. go to bed hungry. Volunteers at the Kids Café in Erie, Pennsylvania are working daily to reduce that number. The primary goal of the program is to provide free and prepared food and nutrition education to hungry children. One of the rules of the program is "no junk food." For the last five years, Erie County Chapter volunteers have been working with the children at the café.
According to the Kids Café, children who are undernourished have trouble concentrating and bonding with other children and are more likely to suffer illnesses that force them to be absent from school. They consistently perform poorly on standardized tests. Poor performance early in school is a major risk factor for dropping out of school in later years.
Since opening in 2000, volunteers have served more than 50,000 meals to over 900 children. Forty-seven percent of the children come from single-parent households. An average of 75 at-risk kids come each day—but that number can be as high as 125. The café patrons range in age from six to seventeen years old.
Volunteers serve the meals, sit and converse with the children while they eat, help them with homework, play games and teach them about good manners. The Erie volunteers are known throughout the community for their work at the café.
Lakes Region Retired Educators Association
Intergenerational Project and Literacy Collaborative
Lakes Region, New Hampshire
NRTA's founder, Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus wrote, "Our community is the place where we, as older individuals, can be most effective. In no other place can we gain so much cooperation and win so many champions and supporters." The volunteers of the Lakes Region Retired Educators Association (LRREA) are living proof that Dr. Andrus' words are true. Through the intricate and hands-on Intergenerational Project and Literacy Collaborative, retirees have managed to bridge the generation gap between fifth graders and residents at local nursing homes and retirement communities, while providing vital in-classroom mentoring, tutoring and support in area schools.
In partnership with Delta Kappa Gamma, an international society of key women educators, each week, volunteers bring small groups of fifth graders to visit their senior "pals" to share stories and participate in activities. The children often put together plays and skits, and read to the seniors. The seniors get to visit the schools for tours and planned activities.
Students also participate in monthly "Reminisce" meetings which feature storytelling and sharing by the elder residents. The information and local history shared at these meetings was so valuable that volunteers created the "Everyone Has a Story to Tell" component of the program. Retirees and 5th graders interview elder residents and document their stories. To date, 45 stories have been illustrated by elementary students, published as children's books and bound in an anthology. LRREA's community involvement extends even further to include assistance with literacy, math and mentoring in area schools.
Individual
Dr. Doris Balko and Barbara Rolf
Founders, Miller Creek Therapeutic Riding Program
Montana Retired Educators Association
In 1994, Dr. Doris Balko and Barbara A. Rolf established Miller Creek Therapeutic Riding Program to serve as a place where children with special needs could come and ride for the purpose of therapy, leisure and recreation. For over ten years, Balko and Rolf have led this completely volunteer-based program which currently serves approximately 60 students and their families. Balko and Rolf have been asked to extend their outreach by becoming involved with the Montana local and state Special Olympics. Due partly to their program, an equestrian venue has been added to the competition roster.
The program now extends far beyond horseback riding. Balko and Rolf know how to take advantage of all of the seasons in Montana, especially winter. The clinic offers a complete venue for winter sports activities including basketball, bowling, sledding, tubing, sleigh rides, snowmobiling, skiing and indoor swimming. You can imagine special needs' snowmobilers getting the feel of a wintry course, while back down at the ranch, a visually impaired friend helps make homemade cookies ready for the snowmobilers' return.
The clinic's season ends in the spring with a benefit called Riverbank Run involving Missoula youth. By then, it's time again to start all over again by getting the Therapeutic Riding Facility cleaned, painted and ready for the next group of riders!
Nancy Clem
Volunteer Director of High School Day Care Center
Indiana Retired Teachers Association
About 8 years ago, Nancy Clem realized that several teenage mothers were being forced to drop out of high school because they did not have anyone to care for their children while they were in class. This fact just kept tugging at her heart. What Clem witnessed at Pike Central High School in Petersburg, Indiana, was indicative of a larger trend. According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, the United States has the highest rates of teen pregnancy and births in the western industrialized world, costing the United States at least $7 billion annually. Teen mothers are less likely to complete high school (only one-third receive a high school diploma) and only 1.5% have a college degree by age 30.
Nancy Clem began to work and talk, and talk and work, until the Pike Central High School Day Care Center became a reality. The day care center provides quality care for the children of both students and faculty. Since her retirement in 2003, Clem has served as the volunteer day care director.
Clem donates 600 hours annually, and in that time supervises employees and student workers and manages payroll. She further applies her skills as an educator and ensures that the day care is up to state standards and that qualified students receive voucher services. The only way that the center remains open and financially sound is through Clem's volunteer work. Since its opening, 39 student-parents have graduated from high school because they had access to quality child care. Thanks to her perseverance, parents and their children have a chance to defy the statistics and build a better future for themselves.
Stanley Lofton
Volunteer Band and Music Instructor
Florida Retired Educators Association
Songwriter Eric Anderson stated, "It is only by introducing the young to great literature, drama and music, and to the excitement of great science that we open to them the possibilities that lie within the human spirit—enable them to see visions and dream dreams." For close to 40 years as an administrator, classroom teacher and band director, Stanley Lofton did just that. A spiritual man, upon retirement, he told God that he would not take pay for his work.
For the last seven years, every school day at 7:00 a.m., he has reported to Emma Love Hardee Elementary School as a volunteer teacher in the band program. Many days he returns to the school at noon and makes himself available for additional instruction. During what most of us would call "spare time," Lofton has given free lessons to children whose families have limited funds. He has also rented and bought instruments for students in low income families.
When Lofton received the phone call notifying him of the NRTA With Our Youth! Award, he said, "But I’m the one that benefits! I get so much from the students!" That might be true. However, according to an independent study by Bands of America, music students have been found to be more responsible and disciplined, and possess more mature social skills and better communications and analytical skills. They are typically in the top 26% of their class academically and 90% go on to college. Lofton may benefit from his work with students, but there are generations of students who are now empowered to "dream dreams," thanks to his dedication.
Additional Information
- Submit a nomination for the 2008 With Our Youth! Awards.
- Become a With Our Youth! volunteer. Contact the NRTA national office at 202-434-2380 to receive the free With Our Youth! information kit or email gruiz@aarp.org.
- Additional questions about the winners? Please email rvillarreal@aarp.org or call 202-434-2380.
- Read about past NRTA With Our Youth! Award recipients: 2007 2006 and 2004.
