(L to R): Foster Grandparent Program Director Charity Rowberry and Program Coordinator Heidi Wade present the Utah Senior Corps Service Award to Kathryn Cole.
Kathryn Cole was the recipient of the Utah Senior Corps Service Award in March. Kathryn serves with the Foster Grandparent of Northern Utah Senior Corps program. She has served for the past seven years as a Foster Grandparent. While now in her nineties, she continues to serve to support and mentor children with exceptional needs. Her particular role has involved serving at Midland Elementary School in Roy, Utah where she has served over 4,600 hours. There she focuses on helping the 1st and 2nd graders who are struggling with reading improve in their reading abilities. Her patience and dedication to those students has helped countless students improve. These students have the chance to read to “Grandma Kathryn” one-on-one so that she can support them directly.
Teachers and faculty at Midland Elementary recognize the valuable contributions that Kathryn has made to students and to the entire school community. They speak of how she “brings joy to the building with her bright smile” and is a “joy to be around.” Teachers note that she is caring and dedicated to the students. The students love having her support and make progress because she is there to have them read to her and practice. She supports them with reading and is also “the love and care that some of our students need.” In addition to making a difference to students, she helps teachers, with one teacher noting “I want to be like her when I grow up!” Principal Stacy Rountree shared that “Midland would not be the same without Grandma Kathryn. We all love her.”
Congratulations to Kathryn Cole on receiving this well-deserved recognition for her service as a Foster Grandparent, which impacts the hearts and minds of students and teachers at Midland Elementary.
Senior Corps volunteers help meet the needs and challenges of America’s communities using resources provided by grants and the energy and efforts of citizens aged 55 and over. Senior Corps is a national service program funded by the Corporation for National and Community Service, which also funds AmeriCorps. Foster Grandparents serve as role models, mentors, and friends to children with exceptional needs. They often provide one-on-one tutoring to help children learn to read; mentor troubled teenagers; and help children who have been abused or neglected. They provide the kind of comfort and love that sets a child on the path toward a successful future.
To get involved with a Senior Corps program in your area, you can visit this website. To find out more about national service and the Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal agency that administers national service programs including AmeriCorps State, please visit this website.