MIDDLETOWN — Some people thought Beverly Howard retired when she left her classroom at McKinley Elementary Accelerated School in 1997.

        But she just traded her full-time teaching job for a full-time volunteer role at the school.

Beverly Howard (left) with food service manager Shirley Chaputa, prepares food for a school luncheon. (Michael Snyder photo) | ZOOM |

        And in doing so, she gave up her paycheck for other rewards — the smiling faces of all the staff and students she assists each day, and the satisfaction of seeing the difference she makes by helping others.

        Mrs. Howard's fingerprints are now on nearly everything in the Middletown school, said Principal Phyllis J. Edmonds. Mrs. Howard updates office files, answers the phone, helps students with problems, helps out on parents' nights, gets involved with fund raisers, decorates the school and bakes treats for the staff.

        Other tasks include typing for teachers, making and distributing lunch tickets, counting money and taking it to the bank, and helping with proficiency exams.

        The 61-year-old educator taught in Middletown schools 34 years, long enough to teach the grandchildren of her first students.

        “She's a Middletown product, and she's here every day,” the principal said. “She's just a part of the school. The staff depends on her, and thinks of her as staff.”

        “My kids always say if I was going to continue working in the school system, I shouldn't have retired,” she said, laughing. “But this way I can do all my other things and still work here. That's wonderful.”

        She also serves on the Middletown Park Board, the Middletown Social Service Center Board, helps with the annual Middfest event, and works with the Parent Involvement group at McKinley. She is active in Bethel AME Church and several sororities.

        “I'm the oldest of nine children,” Mrs. Howard said. “My mother was always involved in helping, and that's just the way of my whole family. It just seems the natural thing to do. Coming from a large family, if people hadn't helped us, it would have been very difficult. I'm just passing it on.”

        Do you know a Hometown Hero — someone in your community dedicated to making it a better place to live and helping others? E-mail Janet Wetzel at jjwetzel@siscom.net or fax to 755-4150.

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