Roberta Lapointe has a Bachelor of Commerce and experience as an administrative assistant and merchandiser.
With that resume, the mother of two could have made hundreds of thousands of dollars over the last nine years. But none of those jobs pay in the kind of currency Lapointe values most.
“I wanted to raise my children and I wanted them to be able to come home at lunch time,” Lapointe said.
“I wanted them to be able to come home any time they were sick. Not have to wake them up in the morning to take them to daycare. I thought that was important for them.”
When her children started going to Delwood School , Lapointe began volunteering there; first in their classrooms and then anywhere she was needed.
“Every year it was a little bit more and a little bit more and then I just sort of ended up helping pretty much anyone who asked!” Lapointe said with a laugh.
She figures in the last seven years alone she’s logged up to 5,000 volunteer hours.
“I felt like if I could take some of the drudgery work – like some of the photocopying, laminating or binding or any of that kind of stuff – off them then they would be able to spend more time figuring out ways to teach kids more creatively.”
WATCH: Roberta Lapointe describes why she’s retiring from Delwood School after nine years as a parent volunteer.
Over the years, her tasks have extended beyond paperwork. Lapointe helps out on field trips, reads to kids in the library and frames artwork. She even sewed a costume for a school festival.
“She’s done it for her kids, but it just spills over into every corner of the building,” Principal Jack Geldart explained. “It’s very gracious.”
Every week, Geldart meets with a small group of students to have hot chocolate and play games.
“Roberta makes the hot chocolate for me. It’s always ready,” Geldart laughed. “Yesterday, Roberta wasn’t here and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I have to make this hot chocolate!’ Just those little details.
“She takes great care of a lot of kids and a lot of adults in the building.”
Geldart calls her his Jiminy Cricket conscience because, on occasion, when he makes a decision she will pull him aside and suggest a different way of doing things.
“We can have this really good conversation about finding a balance between what’s new and needed and honouring a little bit of tradition as well.”
Lapointe’s 12-year-old daughter Catherine has found her mom’s presence at the school both strange and comforting.
“Everyone is talking about ‘Ms. Lapointe! Ms. Lapointe!’ I know her as ‘Mom,'” Catherine said.
“If I ever have a problem or I ever want to tell her something I can always just go up to her and tell her, especially when I’m really excited like when I get a really good mark on a test…I just think it’s nice that I can talk to her all the time.”
This fall, when Catherine graduates from Delwood School, so will Lapointe.
The long-time volunteer is hoping to get a paid position within Edmonton Public Schools.
Delwood School’s principal isn’t sure how he can possibly replace her.
“I don’t know how many appreciate just how much she does…It’s going to be some big shoes to fill.”
Comments