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Pasco Schools Honor Volunteers

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By MEGAN HUSSEY, Tribune correspondent

Published: December 16, 2007

Updated: 12/15/2007 10:55 pm

With 21,000 volunteers working in the Pasco County school system, picking three as outstanding is no easy task.

School officials recently did, however. Here are the school district's Outstanding School Volunteers for 2007-08:

Adult Volunteer: Maribel Hernandez

At Richey Elementary, Maribel Hernandez works with students learning English as a second language and serves as a liaison between the school and Spanish-speaking families.

"I go wherever I'm needed and help the students with math, science and other subjects," she said.

Hernandez works with several students at home, tutoring, reading books and coaching language skills.

"If they see a word they don't understand, I help them look it up in the dictionary."

She also answers parents' questions, sharing tips about how to help with homework.

Hernandez has three children at Richey Elementary: Veronica, Gustavo and Eduardo. Son Genaro attends Gulf Middle School, while another son, Bernardo, goes to Gulf High.

"I first became a school volunteer because I wanted to know what my children would be learning in school," she said. "So, if they needed help, I could help them."

Now, she helps lots of children.

"When these ESOL students don't understand something a teacher says, they're excited and happy to meet someone who speaks their language," she said.

Teen Volunteer: Lauren Reid

Lauren Reid sees serving as an administrative volunteer at Wiregrass High School as an investment in her future.

"I'm learning good people and secretarial skills, to get me through college and into the future," the 11th-grader said.

Last summer, Reid, 16, logged more than 300 volunteer hours, answering phones and greeting the public in the Wiregrass office. She also worked in the classrooms, placing blackout shades available for use during school lockdowns.

The National Honor Society member has cut down her volunteer hours during the school year, but plans to be volunteering full-time during the summer.

"Volunteering makes me feel good about myself," she said. "I can give back to the community that gives to me."

While Reid said she was shocked to be recognized for her work, mother Beth Reid wasn't surprised.

"Lauren volunteers for the right reasons," she said. "She always wants to help people."

Senior Volunteer: Violet Fenton

Violet Fenton has served for 25 years in the Pasco County school system. Currently, she works in the media center at Seven Springs Middle School.

She's not afraid of a little hard work.

"This summer I put together a reading room at the school," she said. "I like to put things in order."

During the school year, she works six hours a week, making copies and organizing materials in the media center and helping out elsewhere at the school.

"When I moved to Florida in 1982, my daughter was a teacher," Fenton said. "She asked me to come help out in the schools and got me into volunteering."

The 78-year-old said she plans to "keep on going" at the school.

"Volunteering gets me out of the house," she said. "I like working with the kids and the teachers. I make friends here."

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