Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 3, 1995 TAG: 9504030021
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: NANCY GLEINER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Age: 13
School: Breckinridge Middle School, Roanoke
Year: Seventh grade
What he does: Paul volunteers once a week in New Life Academy's pre-school/kindergarten class. (The school is a ministry of New Life Temple in Roanoke.) He supervises the 3- to 5-year-olds in the playroom and on the playground, and teaches them some of the basics of math and reading - numbers, ABCs and simple arithmetic.
While teacher Connie Sells works with one age group, Paul takes full responsibility for the others.
``I feel as at ease leaving the room with him in there as I would with an adult,'' said Sells, who nominated Paul. ``He's mature way beyond his years.''
Before he started volunteering, young children often asked Paul to play with them or to lift them up closer to the basketball hoop during Sunday night activities in the church's gym. He realized how much he enjoyed the children and offered his services at the school when he saw an ad in the church bulletin calling for volunteers.
``When the kids are playing, they're so crazy; they do things without thinking about it,'' Paul said. ``They're so much fun to watch.''
Paul turns learning into fun. When he was teaching some 5-year-olds about money, he talked to them about colors and pictures as ways to help them remember coin denominations. ``If it [the coin] has a bird on the back and it's big, that's a quarter,'' he told them. ``I don't know how I think of the things to tell them, I just do.''
``Paul is an excellent teacher,'' Sells said. ``I'll give him something to work on with the children, and he'll make it into a game. He often initiates games on his own for them to play.
``He has a remarkable way with children. He's very caring. The children love him and look forward to his coming every week.''
``Paul is a super young man,'' Sells wrote in her nomination letter. ``His teachers and all those who know him have nothing but the best to say about this young man and his positive influence on those around him. He's a great role model for the children and a great help in the classroom.''
School activities: Paul has played soccer and plays violin in the school's orchestra.
Other activities: He is a member of the Royal Rangers, a service organization similar to Boy Scouts, but which is church affiliated. He plays in a string trio with other students, sometimes performing at church and in talent competitions. He enjoys collecting Civil War relics and has traced three great-great-great grandfathers back to service in the Confederate Army.
Obstacles to overcome: ``To keep the kids from hanging on my neck. They jump on you and hang on your neck.
``Most of the time the kids listen to me. If someone doesn't, they don't get a treat. If they get upset, I talk to them to calm them down and tell them they'll get one next time if they're quiet.''
Even Paul can't understand why he's so successful at handling children. It seems to come naturally.
What he's learned: ``I'm more patient than I thought I was.
``I've learned how to deal with different problems, how to talk to the kids and tell them if they've been bad. Sometimes, I take them into another room and talk to them calmly. I speak quietly and never holler.''
by CNB