I am Jane Button and I live on the Inian Islands, near Elfin Cove. This past March, I traveled into Juneau for doctor and dentist appointments, and my planned one week stay stretched to three because weather made it impossible to return by floatplane to my home.
I was staying with a friend, Jennifer Thompson, who teaches first grade at Harborview Elementary School. Since I had time to spare, I spent a few hours a day in her classroom.
Before I moved to Alaska, I had been a middle-school teacher so I knew that teachers always need help, but I had never spent much time in a primary classroom.
I helped with math assessments, reading and writing, cutting and pasting, wiping tables, passing out snacks and just generally sharing the joy of a very full room of 6-year-olds.
Well, I fell in love with those children, and I think of them almost daily even six months later. As I write this, it is the morning of the first day of school for the 2017-18 school year in Juneau.
I know that children are always our best hope for a brighter future, and Juneau’s future leaders need you.
If you have some time to give to a worthy project, please find a classroom and spend it there. It will bring you back to life. I thank you, and the teachers, and students will thank you.
Jane Button, Elfin Cove