LIBERTY, NY — Christine Klein is known as Grandma Chris to the students in the kindergarten class at Liberty Elementary School, where for the past 10 years she has been a volunteer in the school’s Foster Grandparents Program.  For 28 years before retiring and becoming a volunteer, she was a cook at the school.  “When I retired,” she said, “I knew I was going to be a volunteer grandma because my dad was a volunteer grandpa in the classroom for 16 years, and he loved it.  So that’s how I knew I was going to do it.”

When she retired, Klein knew she needed something to keep her occupied.  “I didn’t know where I was going, but I knew I was going to be in a classroom and I knew it was going to be kindergarten,” she recalled.  For all the years that Klein has been a volunteer, she has been working in the classroom with the same kindergarten teacher as her dad did. She volunteers in the classroom five days a week, arriving at 7 a.m., 45 minutes before the children do, and remains there until 2 p.m., for a total of 35 hours a week.  “I get the crafts ready for the children’s projects, join in on the learning tables, sing and dance with the children,” she said, explaining that it’s a lot of fun for her.  

What gives her the most pleasure, however, is seeing children come into the classroom in September, not reading or writing, and by the end of the school year, they can read a book.

While being around young children can deplete an adult’s energy, Klein said, she is involved in activities that help her maintain hers.  “I do boxing classes, and I go dancing every Saturday night.”  She also participates in a local senior group.

Klein is always on the lookout for new volunteers so that every classroom will eventually have a foster grandma.  Robert England, the principal of the pre-K through fourth-grade school, would like to see that happen.

The Foster Grandparents Program is administered by the Westchester Community Opportunity Program (WestCOP), a multi-service social services organization that includes providing people with chances to volunteer in schools.  Currently, there are eight foster grandmas at Liberty Elementary School, and Klein recruited them through word of mouth.

She remembered an incident that occurred about eight years ago.  “One of the ladies was volunteering, and I came into her room.  She was sitting with the children and doing reading.  I looked at her and asked, ‘Do you want to get paid for what you’re doing?’  She said yes, and I gave her the application and she was hired.”

“I have almost all the kindergarten classes filled,” Klein said.  “There is one in a second-grade classroom right now.  We just need a foster grandma in one kindergarten and one pre-K class.”

Foster grandparents need to be at least 55 years of age and work a minimum of 15 hours each week.  While they are considered volunteers, the federal government reimburses them for expenses that they incur.  As an example, Klein said, “If there’s a snowy day and the school is closed, we still get paid.  We have 48 time-off days a year.”  Foster grandparents are reimbursed for travel expenses to and from the school—65 cents a mile, up to 10 miles per day if they drive, as well as reimbursement for a taxi or bus for foster grandparents who don’t drive.  Meals are provided, but those who prefer not to take them can opt to receive $3 a day for meals instead.  “We get paid every two weeks and it’s direct-deposited into our accounts,” Klein said.

Three times each year, the foster grandparents are honored for the work they do.  At the beginning of each school year, WestCOP organizes a meeting of the grandparent volunteers from Orange, Sullivan, Dutchess and Ulster counties.  To show their appreciation for the work they do, WestCOP gives them gifts.  “They gave us a jacket this year,” Klein said.  At Christmastime, WestCOP hosts a luncheon at a restaurant or a hotel for the volunteers.  “And then, at the end of the year, we have a recognition ceremony at a banquet hall.”

Klein said that she expects to continue to work with the children as a volunteer in the same kindergarten classroom until its teacher retires.

Learn more about the Foster Grandparent Program at www.westcop.org/programs/fgp.