Thegatewaynews.com - 'Motor Moms' help students at Wait

RPC Photo / Holly Schoenstein Kindergartners Jack Meermans, left, and Salvatore Romito play a game of “Operation” under the supervision of “Motor Moms,” a volunteer group dedicated to helping students develop motor skills.

by Holly Schoenstein

Reporter

Streetsboro -- Wait Primary School kindergartner Salvatore Romito grabbed a bone from a patient as he played the board game "Operation" Jan. 29 in the school's cafeteria.

Before he operated, he played with a maze, dragging small balls along with a magnet.

To Salvatore and the other 40 or so Wait Primary kindergartners and first graders, working with volunteer "Motor Moms" to develop their fine motor skills once a week for 20 minutes is more like playtime than work.

"We get to do games here and get to do drawings, and we get candy," said Anthony, a kindergartner who's working with "Motor Mom" Angela Novotny, whose child is a student at the school.

According to Wait Primary Principal John Natko, moms have been volunteering to help with the program for at least six years.

"Teachers identified students who were in need of improving their motor skills, students who were having trouble with pencil grips, letter formation and other fine motor activities," Natko said. "[The volunteers] work with the teachers to come up with a time where they weren't doing major subjects, when they could pull the children out that week."

"It's a program for regular education students who wouldn't otherwise be receiving any occupational therapy services," Natko added.

Heather Gawne, mother of a kindergartner at Wait, organized the group of 11 moms and one grandmother this year after enjoying her volunteering experience last year.

"When I was talking to the volunteers about what this opportunity really means, we kept going back to any extra individualized attention that these kids can get," she said. "The teachers are outstanding and phenomenal and have been asked to go above and beyond because of the [school district's] cuts. It's great to be able to help the teachers. They have more and more responsibility on themselves."

The students work on activities that develop fine motor skills, like stringing beads, manipulating putty and coloring. They can choose activities from the school's existing supplies or use materials the volunteers bring from home.

Natko estimated he would have spent about $500 on the program this year.

"Before, we would purchase the supplies, but this program was completely self-sufficient this year," Natko said. "They got the items donated, the volunteers paid for their background checks, and the parents have been top-notch to make sure this program is working. Everything was done at no cost to the district."

Each volunteer submitted to a self-paid, $30 state background check before joining the group, Gawne said.

Wait has also saved money in its day-to-day operations and in classrooms by using existing supplies instead of buying new and monitoring consumption of tag board and paper.

"We have done with less, unfortunately, out of necessity," Natko said.

E-mail:
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Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3152