Timmy, a canine volunteer through Bentley’s Buddies and Friends, paid a visit to the Hancock County Retired Teachers Association on Wednesday, March 8 at the Nameless Creek Youth Camp lodge. His owner, Nickie Scott, chats with retired teachers Peggy Carson and Ruth Ann Monaghan, members of the group’s service committee, which will support Bentley’s Buddies this year.
HANCOCK COUNTY — Old habits die hard.
Even after 19 years of retirement from a teaching career that spanned nearly four decades, Pat Parker still packs the same sack lunch — a peanut butter and orange marmalade sandwich — when heading to meetings for the Hancock County Retired Teachers Association.
Parker is among a group of retirees who meet quarterly to focus not just on socializing but on serving the community.
When the group met for lunch Wednesday, March 8 at the Nameless Creek Youth Camp lodge, they discussed ways they planned to contribute this year, with a focus on Bentley’s Buddies and Friends, a local nonprofit which connects kids with canines for reading support.
“We were on the lookout for something new to support this year, and we thought this program that incorporates kids, dogs and reading was a perfect fit,” said Peggy Carson, the retired teachers’ community service chair.
Carson, who taught within Greenfield elementary schools for 37 years, said giving back to the community is a big part of what the retired teachers association is all about.
“After you’ve been in the classroom so long and are used to engaging with the kids and parents and the community, you don’t want to just stop. This group keeps you engaged and involved,” said Carson, who retired in 2014.
Since then she’s become involved with a number of organizations, including the Hancock County Food Pantry, Hancock County Friends of the Library, and Hancock Hospital Foundation, the latter of which she serves as a board member.
Carson and fellow retired teachers report the numbers of hours they volunteer each year, and those totals are reported to the Indiana Retired Teachers Association, which tracks members’ community involvement across the state.
“Retired teachers are eligible to receive what’s called a 13th check each year, so state legislators check each year to see if they’re able to secure the funding to do so,” said Sandy Chandler of Cumberland, who retired in 2007 after 34 years in teaching, most of them teaching first grade at Weston Elementary in Greenfield.
By providing the number of volunteer hours accrued by retired teachers each year, “it helps the lobbyists be able to show the impact retired teachers are making on their communities throughout the state,” she said.
The organization has been supporting local causes for years, like donating to local women’s shelters and providing birthday bags filled with birthday cake supplies and candles through the Hancock County Food Pantry.
About two-thirds of the Hancock County group’s 60-plus members submitted volunteer hours for 2022.
For last year’s group service project, members donated more than 300 pampering items like candles, lotion, cosmetics and books to the Andis Women’s Clinic at Hancock Regional Hospital.
Giving back to the community is practically part of every teacher’s DNA, said club member Ruth Ann Monaghan.
As a member of the group’s community service committee, she’s looking forward to supporting Bentley’s Buddies this year.
“We’ve provided snacks and stickers for the students to be given out as a reward, but we’ll mostly be focusing on supporting the organization’s summer camp this year,” said Monaghan, who said donations are collected each time the retired teachers meet.
“We love to give back and make a difference any way we can,” said Parker, who taught kindergarten for 38 years at Harris Elementary in Greenfield, where the kindergarten playground now bears her name.
“Teachers never stop wanting to give back,” she said at Wednesday’s meeting, as she munched on her peanut butter and marmalade sandwich.
Jim Pentzer of Greenfield was compelled to join the Hancock County Retired Teachers Association after retiring in 2018. He now serves as the organization’s vice president and also volunteers with Red Cross of Greater Indianapolis and Meals on Wheels of Hancock County.
“My mother was part of a retired teachers’ group, and I wanted to do the same. I felt the need to continue being part of the education system by continuing to connect with fellow educators,” he said.
