50+ Lifestyles

RSVP Lead with Experience

By Bill Sedlacek
Retired and Senior Volunteer Program of Eastern Iowa and Western Illnois

It’s easy to picture Sue Grove, a retired English teacher, helping out in Davenport’s Madison Elementary kindergarten classes. She just comes across as someone who will wipe noses, help with snow boots, jacket zippers and assist in teaching proper pronunciation, basic letter and number skills–and adds with equal compassion and understanding. Knowing full well that an early boost up the learning ladder is important to success as an adult, Sue–or “Ms. Sue” as some of her kindergarteners call her–is eager to help provide that boost.

Sue came to our little bend in the river from Chicago in 1966 to take a teaching position with the former J. B. Young Junior High in Davenport. From there she went on to teaching positions in Davenport and Walcott. It was at Walcott where she became interested in library sciences and earned certification as a “librarian” or “Media Specialist” depending when you went to school and where you are on the old geezer or geezerette age scale. Don’t look it up. “Geezerette”—it was just coined by my wife, Sylvia, to ensure equal gender denigration opportunity.

Sue Grove

Sue has many observations about the kindergarteners with whom she interacts. She says that there are many gifted children and they come from households that may be considered disadvantaged, as well as those relatively affluent. These are the ones we need to challenge to live up to their full potential, and not consider them a problem when they are just bored by materiel they already know. There are others who come to kindergarten without the basic number and letter recognition expected of children in that age group. These children are the ones most in need of help from volunteers, such as Sue.

One of the misconceptions of elementary school life is that the students do not appreciate the fresh fruits and vegetables in their school lunches. They do eat them and enjoy them and experiment with unusual combinations. She cited one student who took green peppers and asked for ranch dressing. Now that may not be to everyone’s taste, but the student ate it and it may have helped him on a path to a life of healthy eating habits.

Another thing Sue has at Madison is a “Lunch Buddy.” Sue started in 2008 with a kindergartener who had some behavior issues. She has continued to meet once a week at lunch with the same student who is now in eighth grade at Smart Intermediate. The child was quite reserved at first but now opens up and does most of the talking. Sue lets her take the conversational initiative while providing subtle mentoring and a sympathetic ear. I’m sure this has led to Sue’s having a very positive impact on the child’s development.

Since retiring in 2004, Sue and her husband Rex, a retired Pleasant Valley High English teacher, have also volunteered at the Madison Marketplace, a St. Paul’s Lutheran Church sponsored food pantry at Madison Elementary for selected Madison parents. The food is provided by the River Bend Food Bank with St. Paul’s providing the volunteer staff.
Like all of the volunteers I have interviewed, Sue tends to be modest about the very important role she plays by volunteering in our community. As she says “One of the secrets of being a volunteer is that the volunteer receives as much or more than they give.” She goes on to say that one should find some volunteer activity they enjoy and “Just do it.” I’d like to add that if you find one program not to your liking, you can stop and move on to something else, no one will criticize you for doing so. Like most of the folks I have written about here, Sue cannot estimate how much she has given to the community. She and Rex do it out of a desire to help out this community we all share and by doing so help to ensure a better social structure for all of us in which to live. I would estimate that since 2004, she and Rex have contributed at least 4000 hours of service. Impressive as this count is, their positive impact on young lives is of far greater importance. The thread of serving by educating continues to run in the Grove family. Their daughter Jenny, a former Peace Corps volunteer, is now teaching in Bolivia.

If you would like to get involved in tutoring, mentor—or any kind of volunteering, call RSVP: (QCA) (309) 794-4425 or (Knox/Warren) (309) 737-3073. You can also email rsvp@wiaaa.org.