Jennifer's Story
Retired math teacher Jennifer Calvert has an infectiously happy demeanor. While the average adult laughs just seventeen times a day, Jennifer easily gets that many laughs in before lunch.
Her zeal includes a total enthusiasm for math. She truly loves the subject.
That’s why when she moved from Iowa to Spokane twenty years ago she wanted to keep her math skills fresh while waiting for a new job in the classroom. As she looked for a place to volunteer as a math tutor, Crosswalk teen shelter spoke to her.
“The underdog has always been a part of my heart,” says Jennifer. “I relate to those who lack resources, whose backs are up against the wall.”
Maybe that’s because she saw how her daughter—who was a teen mom like a number of the students at Crosswalk—struggled so hard to get her high school diploma and find stable housing of her own before being tragically killed in a car accident at the age of 21.
Just speaking of her daughter still brings tears to Jennifer’s eyes. But she is quick to point out that this tough experience helps her relate to teen moms who are going through similar things her daughter did.
“It can be hard to relate to teenagers sometimes. But after years and years of teaching I’ve learned that teenagers, even troubled teenagers, are just people.”
Jennifer’s first few days volunteering at Crosswalk teen shelter twenty years ago were challenging.
Things didn’t go how she planned. She was her usual friendly, empathetic self. But the teens at the shelter were skeptical.
“The kids didn’t warm up easily. I couldn’t get to that comfortable place with them,” says Jennifer. Despite her efforts things moved slowly and before she knew it she had a job teaching math, which meant she had to give up her volunteering.
But her heart didn’t leave Crosswalk. Though she was short on time, she realized that she had other resources she could share.
One day she glanced at a piano she had bought on a whim to take up lessons and realized she wasn’t using it anymore. She donated the piano to Crosswalk where it is now played every single day. She also stayed connected through regular financial contributions over the years.
Jennifer retired from teaching high school math in 2009 after 28 years. But she loved math, found it fun, and “was not ready to quit having fun yet.” So she came back to us one more time and filed an application to tutor math.
“I am fortunate to be in this position in my life—even if it took till I was 65—to have the time and resources to volunteer like this,” says Jennifer. She encourages anybody in a similar position to do the same.
At the time she submitted her application, the greatest need for tutors was with our foster youth programs.
“I thought Jennifer would be perfect for helping out with the Independent Living programs for foster youth in the offices upstairs from Crosswalk,” says Volunteer Coordinator Shaun Antrim. “So I told her about SETuP, which provides all kinds of support to help foster youth go to college and succeed when they get there.”
She jumped at the chance to help foster kids.
“I think foster youth are done a tremendous disservice when they reach 18,” says Jennifer. “It’s when they need resources the most and instead all their resources are cut. When a kid is trying to graduate high school or get their GED or attend community college, I get that math can often times be the thing that hangs them up.”
“They have this narrow hole to get through in order to get on with the rest of their whole lives. It’s great to know that’s an area where I can help.”
She remembers her first day volunteering for Independent Living. As she sat, waiting for a student, at a conference table in an open area surrounded by offices, she could hear snippets of conversations as the staff and case managers worked with foster youth.
“My first impression was that I was surrounded by people who really care,” recalls Jennifer. “It made me feel so good to be a part of that.”
Jennifer is currently tutoring three foster youth—one high school student and two in community college. She meets with each youth about once a week for an hour or more—depending on the difficulty of the math. Despite her busy schedule (Jennifer substitute teaches two or three times a week and tutors math at St. Margaret’s Shelter as well) she always stays as long as it takes for the student to understand.
Jennifer thrives on the one-on-one interaction she gets with tutoring. Sometimes she is so enthusiastic about the subject that the excitement rubs off onto the person she is tutoring.
“They get so excited if they get the problem right or figure out the steps to solving something,” she says. “It’s the coolest thing to see them go from so frustrated in the beginning of the session to the end where you can just see the lights turning on in their minds.” She loves to see that look of understanding wash over a kid.
Jennifer realizes that being able to understand math is a confidence issue. If the youth can pass math, it is a huge confidence booster. That’s what she would like to leave behind with her volunteering—having made somebody feel better about him or herself.
Jennifer admits there is sometimes little time to talk during tutoring sessions, especially when a youth is preparing for an upcoming test or final. But she gets occasional glimpses into more than just the math problems the students are facing.
“In my last session the girl I was tutoring started to open up a bit,” says Jennifer. “She told me how she didn’t get along with her parents. So much so, that they kicked her out when she was just 12. It’s hard to imagine a circumstance where a relationship with a child could deteriorate to the point where a parent feels their only recourse is to abandon the child.”
“It was amazing to hear that from this delightful person I was sitting with. With each kid I wonder, ‘What are we going to talk about today?’”
Jennifer is building a legacy upstairs in Independent Living as well as downstairs at Crosswalk. The piano she donated is being put to great use. A piano teacher comes in every Friday during lunch to just play music or offer lesson to anyone interested in learning. On many afternoons and evenings, a Crosswalk kid is sitting at the piano, filling the shelter with beautiful music—thanks to Jennifer.
Recently, several friends have wanted to hire her to tutor their children in math. Instead of paying her, she has asked them to donate whatever they would have paid to Crosswalk in memory of her daughter.
Jennifer plans to continue her volunteer work indefinitely—minus a little hiatus this summer to take her daughter’s son (who is now 11 years old) to Costa Rica. In a way, all her support of Crosswalk and her work volunteering with people facing struggles bigger than any math problem is a way of keeping her daughter’s legacy alive.
“It feels really good to be competent in something. It also feels really good to be of service to somebody,” says Jennifer. “It’s just awesome that I get to connect the two here. I am so glad I have something that is still needed by others.”
Learn more about current volunteer opportunities and how you can get involved on our Volunteer pages.