Photograph by Doug Rider

Tammy Markee says goodbye to Carlotte Crabtree after visiting with her at the Saratoga Adult Day Care Center. This was the third visit to the center by the students in Jennifer Austin's class at Rolling Hills School.




Helped become helpers

Volunteers come often to help out in Jennifer Austin's class where she teaches physically and mentally challenged students at Rolling Hills Middle School. But Austin decided if volunteer activities were good for the students who were coming to help out in her class, the students in the class would likewise benefit from reaching out.

So, for Valentine's Day, the youngsters baked cookies and decorated magnets. They practiced songs and learned to play kazoos. Then they trekked over to nearby Saratoga Adult Day Care Center where they sang and played their kazoos for the center's clients.

One of Austin's students hugged every one of the seniors, and said "I want to do this when I grow up." Austin's class returned to the center last week, this time with butterflies made from coffee filters, sprouting wheat-berry seeds and more cookies.

With so much volunteer activity going in and out of her classroom, Austin has learned a truth about volunteerism--that it often leads to activism and advocacy. Most of the students who work in her classroom are Rolling Hills students. "Those kids who volunteer in my class actually become advocates for my students," Austin says.

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