Jeanne Boyd volunteers at Sacred Heart Catholic School in Shawano. Her recent contributions include helping with the school’s walking club.
Boyd was born in Green Bay and then moved with her family to Rhinelander. The family moved to Shawano for her father’s job, and Boyd graduated from Shawano High School in 1967.
Boyd and her husband, Al, who is retired, live in Shawano. They have been married 47 years and have two sons.
When the children were in school, Boyd worked at Pick ‘n’ Save several years. Then she worked in sales at Komatsu Forest, where she talked to people all over the world. When the company left Shawano, she retired in 2009. She likes to travel.
Boyd babysits her niece one day a week and spends a lot of time with her mom.
Q How did you get started at Sacred Heart?
A “My job that I had moved to Tennessee. I was close to retirement. I stayed home for a year. I saw an ad in the bulletin that they needed a volunteer. I started in February five years ago.”
Q What do you do?
A “I started out helping kids with reading and math and anyone who needs help getting their work done. I evolved from there when they decided to have preschool. I help Monday, Wednesday and Friday with the 3- and 4-year-old kids. I help them learn, color and read to them. It’s the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done in my life to see those smiles on their little faces. I’m not a grandma. They’re like my little ones. It’s challenging some days wiping faces and washing hands. They just need a little extra attention. I do whatever the teachers need to be done.”
Q What is the walking program?
A “I keep track of all their steps. The kids walk in the morning from 7 to 8:30 before the bell rings and when they are done eating lunch either outside or in the gym until the bell rings to go back to class. I went around and asked kids what they would like to see. We have a big map of the United States and I put in blue where they want to go and in red how far they have gone. We have Chicago, Boston, all the way to Florida and the East Coast to Texas and the West Coast across the central states and back to Shawano.
“They walk between 500 and 600 miles a month. Each week, there’s a top walker in each class. For every 2,000 steps, they get a little foot on a chain. Some even have more than one chain. Guest walkers come in periodically.”
Q Why do you volunteer?
A “All the years that my kids were growing up I was too busy to do anything for anybody. This is my way to give back. It’s just a lot of fun. I absolutely love it. It’s like it was made for me. I recommend it for when you retire.”
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