Retirement doesn’t keep former teacher Faye Konopik from helping students.

The Oak Harbor resident is a member of the Grand Explorers, a group of seniors who volunteer to help first-graders improve their reading skills at Broad View Elementary School.

The volunteers visit Lorraine Harmon’s first-grade class several mornings a week to help students with reading assignments and to go over flash cards.

But even before Konopik started volunteering with the Grand Explorers, she was a familiar face at the school. Before she retired in 1998 she taught first-graders at the school for 20 years.

Since retiring she has volunteered at Whidbey General Hospital, with Citizen’s on Patrol, and has gardened for the elderly. She used to have a pen pal at one of the schools in Oak Harbor, but she prefers the face-to-face contact volunteering in person offers.

“I would much prefer to hear children read,” Konopik said, adding the students are often excited about the visits.

Harmon said the Grand Explorer volunteers’ efforts are a big help during students’ hour-long reading period.

“They are a delight to have in the classroom,” Harmon said. “The volunteers have a natural rapport with the students.”

Currently there are six Explorers volunteers who help first-graders with their reading. Harmon said she hopes to see more volunteers participate. That would allow for more help in other subject areas and in other classrooms. And with more seniors volunteering in the classroom, more students could be willing to participate.

“The earlier the intervention, the better it is in the long run,” Harmon said.

The early help for students is crucial because it helps ensure future success in the classroom, according to the teacher.

She said she has seen more students over the years not equipped to enter the first grade. Those students benefit from the extra help the volunteers offer.

Even before the Grand Explorers formed, Harmon said she had difficulty finding volunteers to help in the classroom. She said the number of available volunteers has declined in recent years.

She attributed the reduction to a variety of factors. At one time, parents provided a pool of volunteers. However, that has changed over the years. Today parents are often not available because they both work or students are from single-parent households. There are also those rare parents who can regularly volunteer in a class.

Sandra Leaver is a fixture in Harmon’s class. In fact, she came up with the idea to put the program together and encourages senior citizens to participate.

“I’m grateful to have such a parent as Mrs. Leaver,” Harmon said.

Leaver said when she started volunteering, she noticed a need for more volunteers and decided to see if there were any seniors willing to help.

She found some extra seniors who were participating in a pen pal program in another class and signed some up for the Explorers.

The students eagerly await the visits from the group.

“(The students) really look forward to them coming in,” Leaver said. “It’s a good part of the learning environment.”