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SENIOR SUPER STAR VOLUNTEER:

MRS. JACKIE CHUN

In 1965, Mrs. Chun and her family moved in to our Floresta Community. Her children attended James Monroe Elementary, John Muir Jr. High, Pacific High School and San Leandro High School. She started volunteering on a regular basis when her children were attending school. While volunteering, Mrs. Chun was offered the job of noon supervisor. As the years went by, Jackie was also hired by SLUSD as a teacher’s aide, typist clerk, and a para educator. While she is paid for 3 hours of work at Monroe as a para educator, daily she stays and volunteers until the late afternoons--sometimes volunteering up to five hours plus per day. Wow!

When I ask Mrs. Chun what keeps her involved as a volunteer, she answered, “I like helping the teachers and it gives me a great feeling when I’m helping a child and I see them progress.” Mrs. Chun has helped students in grade levels kinder through seventh grade over these past 33 years! I asked her if she would recommend volunteering to other seniors and she replied, “I would recommend it because it cuts the day shorter—making time go by faster—and it keeps me busy, active and alert.” I asked if she felt volunteering made her grow as a person. She said, “I learn how to deal with people of all kinds, with varying personalities and ages. By dealing with all different children and parents that I do year after year, it helps me to grow in understanding the diversity that is now a part of our community.” The last question I asked Mrs.Chun was, since she has been here for over 30 years as a Floresta homeowner and has seen a lot of changes in the community, what feelings does she have about these changes? She answered, “When I first moved here there was very little ethnic diversity. I had to go to Oakland or San Francisco Chinatown to do my grocery shopping. Today I can shop at local Asian markets here in San Leandro, and now there are a lot of Hispanic grocery shops, too. Also, with all the changes of different people moving in, we have a variety of new ethnic food restaurants in San Leandro. We can experience and enjoy other cultures and other cultural foods.”

Well what can I say, except that James Monroe is the luckiest elementary school in San Leandro to have such a super star senior volunteer! We want to thank Jackie Chun for all she does for our families and staff at Monroe Elementary! Words are too limited to describe our appreciation of Jackie Chun’s 33 years of dedicated volunteering to our San Leandro Schools.

If you are inspired to volunteer for next year at James Monroe, just call us at 510-618-4340. We welcome you!