Tabitha Blair loves children, school and she wants to make a difference – all the characteristics of a good teacher.
However, she has no desire to be a teacher. Instead, she has found a way to combine her talents in a useful way. Blair is a volunteer at Riley Elementary School who specifically helps teachers with time-consuming projects.
“My goal is to make it easier for teachers to teach,” Blair said. “If I can do something for them and it gives them 15 minutes with a struggling child or allows them to focus more on the kids, then I’ve accomplished something.”
Blair has been a volunteer for two years at the school where her daughter and grandson attend. She donates between 20 minutes and five hours of her time each week, which is mostly spent at the Parent Teacher Resource Center.
“I do laminating, die cuts and any special project that teachers need help with,” she said.
Blair has a tote at Riley School where teachers place their requests and instructions on a form. Teachers indicate the date the project is needed and Blair works to make sure she hits the deadline. Once completed, she returns the finished projects to the school.
She noted that she takes smaller items that need cut out home for her mother, Freda Chapman, to complete. Chapman is homebound and enjoys being able to help when she can.
“Tabitha is amazing,” said Michelle Daniel, the school’s family support worker who is also in charge of finding volunteers. “She is reliable, predictable and extremely helpful.”
Daniel said Blair arrives at 8 a.m. daily to pick up work from teachers after she gets off her night shift at Walmart.
“We can always use good volunteers,” she added.