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63 °F Forecast | Road Cams Friday, March 18, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend March 14, 2005 Volunteer Rose Graham works on a vocabulary list with first-grader Cody Fort at Griffin Creek Elementary School last week. When it comes to volunteering for her local school to help make up for budget cuts, Graham is a machine. Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Making a difference in needy classrooms Hometown Hero By BUFFY POLLOCK for the Mail Tribune Though her three children include a toddler, a fourth-grader and a middle- school student, Medford mom Rose Graham spends much of her week helping teach first-graders important reading skills. Other days of the week are set aside for her troop of 13 Girl Scouts, helping manage the school store and co-chairing a long list of school fund-raisers. With deep cuts to school budgets in recent years, and likely more on the way, Graham is one of dozens of parents who spend a portion of the week filling in gaps left at area schools without funding for classroom aides and special programming. Tuesdays and Thursdays, Graham spends the morning with first-grade teachers at Griffin Creek Elementary, with class sizes of more than 25 at an age when reading skills are being developed. Advertisement Wednesday, she helps manage a school store for a student government club, which includes ordering products, manning the store and keeping track of finances. Graham is chairperson for the school jog-a-thon, another fund-raiser to help pay for special programs, field trips, reading tests and needed supplies. She chairs the school’s annual carnival and heads up the Shopping for Students fund-raiser, sponsored by the Rogue Valley Mall to provide additional funding to schools. This year, she organized a parent-teacher network to connect parents with Griffin Creek teachers in need of classroom help. "I just help," said Graham, who was hesitant to talk about her efforts. She gave in only "to make people aware of how bad things are getting in our schools." "Since they don’t have the aides, since they don’t have anything anymore, it’s up to parents to help where they can," she said. "There are 35 and 37 kids in one class in some cases. Do the math. You have so many kids, one teacher, and you don’t have money for classroom aides," she added. "The reason they made the classes so big two years ago was because every class with 35 kids would have one aide. Then, last year they cut all the aides!" Griffin Creek Principal Ginny Hicks said with schools facing lean financial times, teachers are depending more than ever on parent involvement. Parents willing to help in classes in which there were no aides were hard to come by. But they help things run more smoothly in the classroom. "It’s wonderful having parents help, and we’re very fortunate that we have so many parents that are willing to help," said Hicks. "We’ve been able to use parents to help provide some small-group instruction in listening to kids read or practice math facts," she added. "If we didn’t have parents like Rose, it would just take longer for the teacher to get around to everybody. Every school has one educational assistant. Before, it varied depending on class size. That’s been significantly reduced from last year. Teachers are having to be creative and figure out ways to use parents. We’re just lucky to have parents available." Graham insisted she was "definitely not a hero." "I just try to do what I can but there are a bunch of other moms doing the same thing," she said. "I just wish Oregon would wake up. They’re talking about cutting more next year. I don’t know what else they can cut. "It’s not only our kids who are suffering � who’s gonna want to be a teacher in Oregon? Is that what we want Oregon to be known for — the people who don’t care about education?" Buffy Pollock is a freelance writer living in Medford. 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