By B.C. Manion
Kim Clarke is not the kind of woman who seeks to claim center stage — so the staff at Sand Pine Elementary was especially delighted when the Wesley Chapel woman received Pasco County Schools’ Adult Volunteer of the Year award.
Clarke has been volunteering at the school for seven years. She began when her daughter Katie was in kindergarten. Katie has gone on to middle school and her son, Christopher, is now in fifth grade.
Besides volunteering in the classroom, Clarke has held various offices on the school’s Parent Teacher Association board. She has served as president, treasurer, hospitality chairwoman and historian. This year, she’s second vice president.
Fifth-grade teacher Candi Suarez said Clarke helps in all sorts of ways.
“She is definitely deserving of the honor,” Suarez said.
When the children were reading chapter books that they’d chosen, “she read along with them and coached them through,” Suarez said. She was “very, very, very encouraging. It really made them value literacy.”
Clarke typically volunteers in the school once a week, in addition to her PTA activities.
She’s happy to do whatever the teachers need, she said. For instance, on Friday, Suarez asked her to make some shamrocks and then to put some limericks on them.
No problem. The volunteer got to work.
That’s how she always is, according to the nomination.
“Mrs. Clarke’s quiet, unpretentious demeanor enables her to work well with others and allows for seamless involvement in the classrooms,” the nomination says.
“Mrs. Clarke is a wonderful volunteer and PTA officer and can be counted on in any situation. She works well with students and enjoys being with them.
“She is supportive, caring and helpful.”
On one occasion, she helped a teacher while groups of children read a recipe and followed the directions to make salsa. At the end of the day, Clarke took home the teacher’s dishes to clean them so the teacher wouldn’t have to.
Clarke said she enjoys helping.
“I think if you can, you should,” said Clarke. “My job is flexible, so I can. I know there are a lot of moms who would like to, but they can’t,” said the woman, whose work involves investigating workplace grievances.
Clarke said she comes from a family of teachers and understands that teachers can use as much help as they can get. She knows how much of their personal time they devote and how much of their own money they put into teaching.
“I think my children, especially when they were young, liked having me around.”
School staff members like having her there, too.
“She’s always smiling,” said Judy Griffith, the front office secretary.
“We love her,” said Pat Friz, who handles data entry. When Clarke became the school’s PTA president, Fritz said, “She had big shoes to fill.”
She rose to the challenge, Fritz said. “She did an outstanding job.”
