Who: Volunteer in the reading program of Westgate Elementary School
Age: 84
Hometown: Born in Fairfax, Mo., and raised in Mound City, Mo.
Education: Graduated from Mound City (Mo.) High School in 1945 after receiving 12 years of education in the same school building
Family: Married 50 years to Bob King, now deceased; son Jim King, Wahoo, Neb.; daughter Carol Sacoman, Omaha; four grandchildren; and one great-grandchild
Hobbies: Reading, growing flowers and working in her yard
Encouragement and someone to listen: That's what many first- and second-grade pupils need when they are learning to read.
And that's what Omahan Pat King, 84, provides when she volunteers one morning a week at Westgate Elementary School.
She has been volunteering a little more than 10 years and hopes others in the community will also volunteer to help children.
"It's no big deal," she says. "I go up one morning a week and I listen to children read. There's a real need. I realize people are very busy, but I feel very strongly that these children need support. Many children don't have someone at home who has the time or will take the time to listen to them read."
King says her volunteer responsibilities seem light because they involve no strenuous work or preparation on her part. She simply arrives like a grandmother would to visit with a child.
"They have already screened the children and decided who would benefit from having someone listen to them read," King said. "They bring their book. I just listen to them read. It's as simple as can be. I just give them a little bit of love and attention."
If a child has difficulty with a word she will help as needed.
"I'm not there to discipline them," she said. "I'm just there to let them know that somebody cares enough to come and listen to them."
King's volunteering began soon after she received a newsletter from the Westside Community Schools and noticed an article about the need for volunteers in the reading program. Her own children had graduated decades before from the school district and she felt the urge to help.
Her previous volunteer experience had been with West Hills Church, the American Cancer Society and as the leader of her daughter's Girl Scout troop.
She had never before volunteered at a school, but she felt comfortable from day one.
"I do whatever they tell me to do," she said. "They send the children to me. They select the books. I just listen. It's encouraging to me to see from the beginning of the year to the end of the year how much they have progressed and how much confidence they have."
At the start of each school year she starts with a new group of children.
"You just kind of fall in love with them," she said.
King is a Missouri native who moved to Omaha in 1945. There were seven children in her family and she had a sister living here. The sister's invitation to visit Omaha led to a job at Northwestern Bell.
King worked in the accounting department, tallying up long-distance phone charges — each one noted by a phone operator on a small slip of paper — for the monthly invoices mailed to customers.
She stayed with the phone company until she married and started a family of her own.
In her spare time, King enjoys reading and yard work. She grows a variety of perennial and annual flowers.
"I just like flowers," she said.
Contact the writer:
402-444-1052, jane.palmer@owh.com
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