Grandparents praise volunteer program’s impact in Worthington City schools
Summary
A grandparent commenter described a volunteer program that places grandparents in classrooms monthly to teach character lessons, saying teachers welcome the visits and students recall the lessons at home. Program coordination and funding details were not specified in the meeting record.
Commenter, a grandparent volunteer, told the meeting that grandparents in the Worthington community have become more involved in local schools and that a volunteer program coordinates regular classroom visits led in part by Jim McGillicut and a volunteer identified only as Audrey.
"Today, grandparents are so involved," the Commenter said, adding that the program meets through sessions organized by McGillicut and Audrey and that volunteers share lesson plans so they teach the same topics across classrooms. The Commenter said teachers have been "welcoming" and that participation has been "easy."
The Commenter described specific classroom impacts, saying students remember lessons and sometimes report them at home. She recounted a child named Parker who introduced the volunteer to his family after a visit, and said her own grandson later explained helping a fallen opponent on the soccer field by saying, "because Mimi and Pop taught us moral courage yesterday in the classroom." The Commenter said such moments show the lessons can carry into students’ behavior outside school.
The speaker also said involvement gives grandparents purpose, keeps them connected to how the schools are organized and "maybe where our money is going a little bit," and noted the district is "diverse" compared with the smaller district they remembered. The Commenter referenced Worthington Estates as a site where the volunteer circles have taken place.
No formal action, vote or funding source for the program was recorded in the provided transcript. Details such as the program’s formal name, its relationship to the school district administration, volunteer training requirements, and any budget or contract support were not specified in the meeting record.
