For the ‘grandma’ of KidStop, every day is Christmas Day

by Darren Diekmann

news@thenewsleaders.com

A half dozen children are gathered around her, their excited young voices calling, “Grandma, Grandma,” hoping to get the elderly woman’s attention. She listens intently to one and then another, gently asks one little boy to wait while another finishes.

This is routine for the foster-grandparent volunteer who is known as Grandma to kids and staff alike at Pleasant View Elementary School’s KidStop, a before- and after-school program.

So exclusively do children and staff use the affectionate, Grandma, that even many of the staff don’t know her name is Lavern Justin.

She has been at KidStop for 18 years, ever since moving to Good Shepard in Sauk Rapids, a convenient two blocks from the school.

Then, a friend of hers, another resident at Good Shepherd, was a  volunteer at the school.

“When she quit she said to me, Why don’t you work there. You’d like it,” Justin said.

On her first day, still unsure of herself, Justin recalls how by snack time a group of kindergartners had attached themselves to her, and how her request for coffee faced them with a dilemma. They only had milk.

“They were all so anxious to get me something, and they were so befuddled, like, Oh my gosh, what are we going to do?”

Both amused and touched by their attention and concern, she knew she had found her place.

“From the first day, I was called Grandma,” Justin said. “With just so many kids, it was just easier to tell them to call me grandma. And I am proud to be called that because I am so grateful and proud to be a foster grandparent.”

When asked what has kept her involved for 18 years, she says it’s the kids, of course. “Their  enthusiasm and energy – I just want to be around it all the time; it’s what I look forward to every day.”

She also points to Paige Kaehler, program manager, as a hard-working initiator of an atmosphere of optimism and creativity.

“He makes ever day here Christmas Day,” she said. “It’s always a surprise. You may think there couldn’t be anything new and then he brings in something we haven’t seen before – it’s just like Christmas.”

Kaehler, in turn, points to Justin as contributing to that atmosphere.

“She means everything to us,” he said. “And her attitude is just awesome. She comes to work every day with a smile, excited to help out the kids.”

Dependability, he says, is one of her main qualities.     

“She is here almost everyday, Monday through Friday, and the days she isn’t here are few and far between.” Even then, she is sure to call ahead.   

On the odd day she is gone, her absence is strongly felt. Kaehler recalls last year when Justin missed two months of work.

“It was hard on her, I know, and it was hard on us,” Kaehler said. “The kids were continually asking, ‘Where is Grandma?’“

On a recent birthday of Justin’s this reliability created an interesting situation. Her youngest son, Jimmy, decided to surprise her at KidStop with a party. He was driving her to work that day. However, when they were in the car ready to go, she alarmed him, by saying she was thinking of staying home that day.

“He had already bought everything,” she said. “It didn’t even occur to him I wouldn’t be going to work. But of course he couldn’t say anything. He just said, no. Then I said yeah, I think I’ll go in.”

Kaehler said he notices Justin’s influence most during Power Hour, homework time right after school is out. She seems especially attuned to how the children are feeling and is often the one to notice a child who is having trouble. The child might be confused about a subject, or as often is the case he has forgotten something, a homework assignment or book in his classroom.

Giving an understanding smile and  guiding the student to the classroom to get what’s missing does much to ease a child’s distress and get them on task, Justin explained.

Also, at this time of year, with 150 kids, transitions from indoors to outdoors creates a lot of confusion – hats and mittens get misplaced. Again, Justin, will help the student find what’s lost. She has accompanied many children to the lost and found.

“She is like the eyes and ears here,” said Crystal Treptau, the assistant manager of the program. “She sees everything and knows the kids well and knows what they need. If a kid is upset, it’s often Grandma who will bring it to our attention.”

Justin said she finds it particularly gratifying to help a lonely child find a friend. And she has a method. She explains on the playground there are three places where kids concentrate.

“I will take them to the different places and tell them,  ‘just to look and see if there aren’t kids here who need someone to play with too. If not in one area, then another.’ I show them they have options. They almost always find a friend.”

When asked how much longer does she intend to continue to be a part of  KidStop she says, “For a long time. Those kids give me so much. I love being a foster grandparent…And I am going to live to be 100, so yes – it will be for a long time.”