Pat Roy spent nearly four decades teaching. She retired five years ago, but still spends her time volunteering at Forest Hills School in Saint John.
“I taught 37 years, my last nine here at Forest Hills, so when I retired I decided that I'd like to fill a need in the school,” says Pat.
That need is in the classroom, the lunch room, and the halls.
“Each year she begins by coming to the school to see what the teachers would like and Mrs. Roy helps from anything from literacy, to math, basically whatever is required,” says Liza Muise, the school’s literacy lead.
“She's everything to this school,” says teacher Chris Tombin. “She's always here volunteering, she helps out with reading clubs and fundraising and all that stuff, so she's been basically involved with the kids since day one that I've been here.”
Pat's passion for teaching has carried on into her retirement.
“I think because I've been a teacher, and I see the need, and I know the cut backs have really affected the children that need it the most, so they're the children that I want to help,” says Pat.
That help extends beyond lessons in reading and writing; Pat also raises money for families in need at Christmas time.
“She's here before we get here in the morning, before most staff, she spends countless hours just organizing all the donations that she receives, she seeks out donations from the community,” says teacher Kari Parsons.
“She volunteers, sometimes daily, on projects to make sure that we have the support we need in our school to keep the children safe, healthy, and learning,” says Erica Brown, vice-principal.
Many of the older students had Mrs. Roy as their teacher in grade two and they say they feel lucky to still have her around.
“She doesn't look at students just as students, she cares about them as kids and she cares about their well-being,” says student Tom Brow.
“For us to be able to do all the things we want to do, we need to have a strong volunteer base, and that's really what Pat is, she's just so community conscious and always willing to help, so I would say she's works as many hours as many of our regular staff do,” says Melissa Savoie, principal.
Pat says once her husband retires she might cut her hours back, but she's not sure she'll ever graduate from this school.
“I still enjoy coming, I look forward to coming, if they call me, I'm here.”
Congratulations Pat Roy, our Maritimer of the Week!
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