Volunteer finds reward in work

Walking through the hallways at Libby Elementary School, it’s not uncommon for one of the students to stop Ray Eanes, a volunteer sign language instructor at the school for over 23 years, and sign to her.

When the teachers found out that Eanes’ 80th birthday was approaching, they decided to have the students and staff show their appreciation with their hands: On large posters that they hung up near the cafeteria, around 600 teachers and students made handprints.

On seeing the posters, Eanes smiled and thanked the children who thronged around her smiling.

“Oh my goodness, I’m glad I don’t have a weak heart,” she said before signing “Thank you” to the children.

In the teachers’ break room, as the teachers gathered to thank Eanes for what she does, she responded with gratitude of her own.

“You guys are so wonderful, and you’re so kind,” she said. She thanked them for their patience with her husband Paul, who has alzheimer’s and sometimes accompanies her to the school.

“I so, so appreciate all of you. It’s been quite a ride,” she said.

Lasting impact

Older students in fifth or sixth grade still remember how to talk to the woman who spends her mornings and afternoons teaching kindergarten and first grade students sign language, said kindergarten teacher Lacie Farmer.

Farmer’s own daughter, who is in second grade now, continues to look for books on sign language and tries to learn more. She has even begun teaching her younger siblings to sign.

Some of the students may not remember everything, forgetting words they don’t use often, but other things they will never forget, she said.

“You don’t forget a song lyric. They don’t forget those signs, because of the way she teaches it,” Farmer said.

And the impact of what she teaches has practical applications in the rest of their schooling as well, said substitute teacher Mary Christensen. Often children who are having trouble with their letters will suddenly get them because of the connection created when Eanes teaches them the letter in sign language.

“It gives them connections to the phonemics of what they’re learning, for not only language development, but for social skills, and for learning that there’s other ways to communicate and that we can do it in a sensitive, quiet way also,” said kindergarten teacher Halley Parker.

It also gives the teachers another way to connect to the students, she said.

“I can sign to the classroom to quiet them down, or to say ‘I love you’ from across the room,” she said.

The other teachers at the school are in awe of Eanes’ ability to keep the rapt attention of the young students.

“It’s hard to keep one classroom quiet. She does three classrooms at a time,” Parker said. “She’s magical with them.”

There is general agreement among them that part of that comes from the respect she commands. Yet, the way she engages them also may have something to do with it.

“The thing about their little brains, they’re just lit up the entire time that they’re in there with her,” Farmer said.

“Young children, they like to move,” Parker said. “So any tiny connection you can make to what they’re learning and movement, it’s so much easier for them to learn.”

Eanes shared Parker’s sentiment.

“It’s great for kids who are the wee naughty ones, that can’t sit still. We don’t still very often, so I never have any trouble with these kids,” Eanes said.

History of giving

Eanes said she first took an interest in sign language when she saw a woman signing the Lord’s Prayer in church when she lived in Washington.

That lead to two years of studying sign language at community college, she said.

Later, when she was a substitute teacher in North Bend, she decided to see if the children would be interested in learning sign language.

“So, I sent a wee note home to all the parents, and went into the gym two days later thinking we’d have maybe 20 kids,” she said. “Ninety five kids turned up. I almost died.”

But, Eanes gathered some other teachers to help and drove on with the program, she said. Since then, every place that she and her husband have lived, she has taught sign language.

A substitute teacher in Libby until just last year, Eanes continues to teach sign language as a volunteer.

Eanes said she’d rather be “in the back row” when credit is being offered, and kept coming back to the other teachers at Libby Elementary.

“We’re so lucky to have that caliber of teacher here in Libby,” she said. “They’re just fabulous. The kids, they are just so lucky to have them.”

What you do

“My mother was a volunteer, and she dragged us everywhere,” Eanes said of her childhood in Scotland. For her, volunteering is a normal part of life.

On top of that, She said she feels Libby has plenty of other “unsung heroes” more deserving of praise.

“The volunteer part, it’s just what you do, isn’t it?” she said. “You have to do your bit, and so that was my bit.”

Eanes said she still volunteers helping with the annual Nordicfest, and also helps in other cultural educational roles, such as recently teaching local Girl Scouts a Scottish dance.

Being a volunteer is not something she wants credit for, but something she wants to see more people do.

With the financial realities of the county, volunteers are essential, Eanes said.

“If you live in this community, you need to do something to help, and volunteering is a great avenue to help out,” she said. “You’re just giving back to people that have helped you.”

But is there something about volunteering that benefits the people who do it as well?

“Oh heavens yes. Oh aye,” Eanes said. “I get a great deal of pleasure out of doing it. It’s a lot of fun, it really is.”