|
Please join us in congratulating Mr. Ronald Easly and Mrs. Catherine Easly for being selected as the
2009 Volunteers of the Year
|
Ronald and Catherine Easly were nominated for the Volunteer of the Year Award by Mrs. Lori Gochnour and Mrs. Gale Reeve, teachers at Martinsburg Elementary School, for their volunteer services through Blair Senior Service’s Foster Grandparents Program. This is Mrs. Easly’s third year in the program and Mr. Easly’s second.
Mrs. Easly works in Mrs. Reeve’s kindergarten classroom and provides a reassuring voice, a guiding hand, and an atmosphere of security for students attending school for the first time. Mr. Easly, known as “Mr Ron,” provides daily support in Mrs. Gochnour’s first grade classroom and is a continual source of motivation for students. Often seen wearing his “educational tool belt” complete with pens, pencils, sharpener, post-it notes, tissues, etc., he makes sure that the students have what they need to be successful in school. Mrs. Gochnour describes him as the “consummate positive male role model.”
The Easlys are originally from Hastings, PA, in northern Cambria County. For many years Mr. Easly operated the family businesses, running both a furniture store and the local funeral home with his sister and younger brother. Mrs. Easly worked at the local A & P store. After Mr. Easly retired in 1991, the couple moved to Greenville, South Carolina, where Mrs. Easly went to work in the Credit Department at Dillard’s Department Store. Sensing that her husband needed something more, she suggested that he find something to get him out of the house. Because he missed his own grandchildren, he looked into opportunities to work with children. He found himself as a volunteer at the local hospital working with children, and then at the Greenville airport, where he gave educational tours of the airport for over 500 preschoolers, 1st and 2nd graders each week.
Upon Mrs. Easly’s retirement from Dillard’s in 2001, the couple moved back to Pennsylvania at the urging of their son, Doug, who lives in the Spring Cove School District. The goal was to be able to spend more time with family and see their grandchildren grow up. It wasn’t long until both Ron and Cathy felt the need to be involved in the community, and they began volunteering at Homewood. Shortly thereafter, Ron mentioned that he would love to work with children once again. The couple found the perfect solution in Blair Senior Service’s Foster Grandparent Program.
In addition to their daily work at Martinsburg Elementary, Ron and Cathy attend monthly inservice programs to stay up to date on the latest strategies and techniques for effective classroom assistance. They serve as excellent models for life-long learning. “The Easlys do a wonderful job working with the children, and their teachers report that they are a great asset to the classroom. They are ideal Foster Grandparents and selflessly commit themselves to the children and to the work they do every day. They are two really wonderful people,” says Cheryl Nolan, Assistant Director of the National Senior Service Corp Program and Coordinator for the Foster Grandparent Program.
Believe it or not, this couple still finds time for other volunteer service, including calling Bingo every Saturday at Homewood and serving as Eucharistic ministers at St. Thomas Moore Catholic Church. They are both avid readers and enjoy traveling and walking. When asked why they devote so much time in volunteer service and to children, Mr. Easly responded, “We are so proud when we see how the children blossom throughout the year, and we enjoy playing a part in that transformation. It enriches our lives and keeps us young.”
The Easlys reside in Martinsburg. They have three grown children, Cheryl Wright of New Mexico, Beth Cerrone of New York, and Doug Easly of Martinsburg. They also have eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild. The Foster Grandparent Program has about 55 grandparents in schools, daycare centers, head start programs, and area hospitals. For more information about this program, call 814-946-1235.