Ellen's Story

A widow at age 20, Ellen Kelley raised her daughter and worked for 30 years in nursing. After retiring, she responded to a newspaper ad seeking Experience Corps tutors and began helping 2nd and 3rd graders with reading at the Nathan Hale Elementary School.

“The story I like to tell is about my little man, Herbie. He just had a terrible time. He didn’t want to come for tutoring. He was literally on the floor screaming, ‘No, no, they think I’m stupid. I don’t want to come.’ I finally got him to join me, and Herbie turned out to be just wonderful. He accomplished a great deal, and he developed a sense of self that was just marvelous. He did well in school, and they tell me that he did well in many other subjects, not only his reading.

“Herbie did not have a dad in the home. You learn these little things being with the children. For some of them you recognize that home is just not always wonderful, but they’re very defensive about it and it is home to them. I’ve learned to listen. I’ve learned that they’re all individuals and they all have different needs.

“And I’ve learned a lot about schools. I think that getting people from the community is very good because it gives people a greater knowledge and understanding of what goes on in their schools, what goes on with the children, and how members of the community can help. And you also see that what you do with the children goes home, so you have a chance to have an effect on that situation. The seniors have an opportunity here.

“I think for most children, anybody who’s a year or two older than them is old. This is going to be one of the first generations of children to have the opportunity to work with people in the 7th and 8th decades of life and really to know and understand them and to know early on what age can be like. In my generation, older people were always sedentary, the buxom type of grandmother with the glasses and the graying hair, and she coughed, she always coughed. It’s a different thing children are seeing nowadays. And perhaps that will inspire them in their young lives to look ahead in a different way.

“Now entering my fourth school year, my experiences with Generations Incorporated has given me the opportunity to know and understand how children learn; the difficulties they experience that can block their ability to learn; and the caring, consistency and support that relieves some of these problems thereby opening up the child to learning. While tutoring, I have personally experienced the exchange of love and admiration that occurs with the awaking of the child who can say with confidence ‘I got it!’

“In addition, seniors are given the chance to plant and leave in their wake a seedbed of knowledge with each child that they mentor. A seed that will grow and promote the child’s worth in their community. For many seniors teaching and coaching become the driving force that encourages them to look forward to getting out; to being greeted with honestly felt emotion; to closing the generation gap; and sharing life experiences.”