Dr. Maude A. Sanders Primary School recently recognized the efforts of two of its volunteers.
At the Sept. 12 Peoria Board of Education meeting, Kaylee Arnold, the new principal of Maude Sanders, presented to the board two volunteers who each received the Remarkable Spirit Award. Fran and Joyce volunteer their time at the school by running the community garden, which started as a summer project and is now a STEM learning space for students.
“Joyce and Fran are the most giving people I have ever met,” Arnold said at the meeting. “Maude Sanders could not survive without them. They go above and beyond every single day. They not only care about the students, they care about the staff as well.”
Joyce is known for shopping for items that students can purchase with their Badger Bucks on Fridays, organizing the school curriculum closets and all other areas, stepping in to help out a teacher or give them a quick break, and sharing her advice and wisdom from her days as a teacher.
The teachers all shared how they appreciate and remember Joyce and all her volunteering. Many recalled how she sneaked them lunch as “a friend” or brought apples and bananas as snacks for them so they could keep their energy up while working with the students.
Fran recalled how she got started with volunteering 12 years ago when Joyce told her that copying papers for the teachers would help her stay busy in retirement.
