When Russ Marineau of Naperville retired from his job at IBM in 1991, he vowed that he wouldn’t be taking up residence in a rocking chair anytime soon.
“I really wanted to stay busy, stay active, get involved,” he said.
One of the ways he fulfilled his own pledge was to hook up with a program created by the Naperville District 203 school system called HURRAH, which stands for Happy Upbeat Recycled Retirees Actively Helping. As a member of HURRAH, Marineau volunteers as a mentor at Washington Junior High School, where all five of his children once attended. Each Thursday morning, Marineau visits a study hall at the school to work one on one with students who need a little homework assistance.
“I like helping the kids,” he said. “Actually, it helps all of us. Stick around young people, and you’ll think young.”
The students seem to like the arrangement as well.
“It’s like I get my own private lesson,” said 7th grader Erin Nolan, 12. “If I have extra questions, I can ask and not be embarrassed. I can’t always do that with the teacher.”
HURRAH was created in 1989 by two retired District 203 teachers who suggested that retirees had a lot to offer the education process at Naperville schools. The idea seemed to come at a good time. School officials were losing parent volunteers as many mothers returned to work. Meanwhile, with professionals retiring earlier, there was an untapped resource of people with wisdom, experience, skill–and plenty of free time.
“It’s a win-win-win situation,” said teacher Fred Willman of Kennedy Junior High School. “These volunteers fill in a hole that needed filling. Also, the people who are least likely to vote for bond issues are senior citizens. If they’re right here in class, they can see for themselves where the needs are.”
Today nearly 300 volunteers are registered with HURRAH, filling a wide range of volunteer positions in most of the district’s 21 schools. Many visit the schools weekly for tutoring, reading, mentoring or administrative help, while others share their skills and experience for occasional special events. For example, more than 30 HURRAH members recently visited a Naperville junior high school to supplement a history lesson with descriptions of life during World War II. Members of local VFWs also visit the schools to breathe life into Veterans Day observances.
At Beebe Elementary School, kindergarten teacher Jane Moon said the supply of what are called grandparent readers can barely keep up with student demand. One reason, she surmised, is that all kids love to be read to, especially by someone who might remind them of a far-away grandparent.
“Years ago, Grandma lived on the corer, so you could stop in after school for cookies and milk and a story if you needed one,” Moon said. “Kids today don’t have that contact.”
Indeed, many of the kindergartners in her class have families scattered all over the world, including Taiwan, India, Hong Kong, Korea and Lithuania. As for the one-on-one attention of the grandparent readers, not only does it help improve reading skills, the contact “benefits students both socially and emotionally,” Moon said.
The mutual affection between the volunteers and children was displayed last fall when kindergartners surprised grandmother reader Clem Matter with a party for her 85th birthday. As part of the celebration, students sang “Happy Birthday” in several languages and donated a book to the school library in Matter’s name.
Volunteer Bill Mrazek, one of the few grandfather readers at Beebe, has a special fondness for the school because two of his grandchildren go there. Mrazek, a former typesetter for numerous publications, including the Chicago Tribune, volunteers at the school because “I enjoy the children so much,” he said. Besides, “the teachers have enough on their hands. They can sure use the extra help.”
The ages of the HURRAH volunteers range from early retirees in their 50s to a woman who will soon be celebrating her 90th birthday. Beebe School reading specialist Judy Rubenstein revealed that the latter, an energetic grandmother, once had to reschedule her weekly visit because it conflicted with her water aerobics class. Another reader, Lorraine Voss, has not missed a week in six years. Rubenstein said, “She’s here, come rain or shine. Even when she had hip problems and could barely walk, she was here.”
The HURRAH program, although not the only one of its kind in Illinois, is one of the most extensive and successful, said Mary Selinski, intergenerational programs coordinator with the Illinois Department on Aging. In fact, Selinski said, HURRAH had a lot to do with inspiring the statewide program Illinois READS (Retirees Educating and Assisting in the Development of Students).
The New York State Department on Aging also has been taking a close look at such Illinois programs and hopes to set up similar ones in that state. “We have one of the only intergenerational programs available,” Selinski said. “We are in the forefront of making these relationships occur.”
Mary Ann Bobosky, director of community relations for the school district, said the effort to recruit retirees is never-ending because the desire and demand for their help greatly outweighs the number of active volunteers. Bobosky said the best advocates for the program are the volunteers themselves. “When they take ownership, they show a great deal of enthusiasm,” she said. “They sell it better than anyone else could.”
As for Russ Marineau, he is a walking, breathing advertisement for HURRAH. “I’ve learned how important it is to stay busy and to interact with young people,” he said, adding that the program still hasn’t interfered with the other pleasures of retirement. “The schedule is very flexible. After helping out at the school, I still have time to go golfing.”
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For more information about HURRAH, call Mary Ann Bobosky at 630-420-6815.
