Volunteer Spotlight: Madelyne Berry

Madelyne Berry is realizing a dream. New Rochelle born and raised, Berry is a “semi-retired” mother of two adult children, who always wanted to work in a classroom environment in an inner city. The school and the city were irrelevant; she just wanted to “get into a classroom in an inner city and give the kids love.”

Following her retirement after 36 years as a state “tax auditor with a heart of gold,” she worked as a part-time health benefits administrator for the City of New Rochelle. After four years, her position fell victim to city-wide budget cuts, and Berry was laid off.

“I always wanted to work in a classroom helping children,” Berry explained. “I always said that when I retired, that is what I would do.”

She said she had a friend—Diane Keller—whom she has known for 28 who is a teacher.

“I would watch her prepare for work, and she had so much to do,” Berry said. “She was always preparing projects for her kindergarten students. One day I told her that I wanted to help her. I wanted so much to help her because she seemed to have so much work to do.

”I couldn’t help her with the academics because I wasn’t that kind of professional. What I knew I would be good at in the classroom was nurturing, cheerleading, giving hugs, encouraging, making the students feel good. I knew I could sort, glue, hand things out and put things together. I told her that I wanted to be her class mother or the class grandmother like they had in my children’s classes in New Rochelle.”

Pretty soon, Berry and her friend were hatching a plan. If it could be cleared with Keller’s principal at Grimes Elementary School located on the south side of Mount Vernon, where she has worked since 2004, Berry would volunteer one day a week, cheerleading, loving and nurturing the kindergarten students in Keller's class.

“Like many schools throughout the state, in 2004 the Grimes school was experiencing layoffs and budget cuts,” Keller said. “The principal was encouraging parents and others to volunteer in the classrooms.”

Soon Berry was volunteering in Keller's class one day a week. That was seven years ago, and, despite a brief health-related interruption, the two BFFs have been a tag team in the classroom, nurturing, teaching, encouraging, gluing, singing, building confidence and changing lives.

“[Berry's] a tremendous help,” Keller said. “She ties shoelaces, buttons coats, fixes belts. She’s a nurturer. And she’s grown in the job. Before, she used to sit with students if they were having a bad day. She would tell them they looked nice, rub their backs if they were tired or sad. She still does that, but now she is also helping the other kindergarten teachers in the school. She makes photocopies, hands out supplies, puts notices in backpacks.”

“I’m a nurturer not a taskmaster,” said Berry. “I want to be supportive to the kids. I want to encourage them. Tell them that they are wonderful.”

While Keller explains that the children’s parents are caring and supportive, they are not in the classroom, and the students continue to need that loving support during the school day.

Berry notes: “I’m there to fill the void.”