Craig Daily Press

Craig — Ruth Bell works in the copy room of East Elementary School Thursday afternoon as Dommeniqc, a third-grader, watches.

Ruth Bell usually volunteers at East Elementary once a week, spending at least two hours each visit.

Bell is more than a weekly helper.

She’s also a parent — Dommeniqc’s mother, to be exact.

And, she’s not alone.

Bell is one of about 60 parents who volunteer at East Elementary. This week, the school hosted an assembly honoring parent volunteers.

The duties given to those parents can vary from helping students in the classroom to making copies of worksheets, said Bobbi McAlexander, East Elementary third-grade teacher.

Bell specializes in the latter category.

“I’m much better at running the papers than I am helping in the classroom,” she said, laughing.

Bell makes copies for the three East Elementary third-grade teachers. McAl­exander, Dommeniqc’s teacher, appreciates the help.

“She frees up time for all three of us,” McAlexander said, “because otherwise we would be hours after school, making copies and such.”

Until Bell gave up full-time employment two years ago, lending a hand in her son’s classroom wasn’t an option.

“I kept thinking I was going to” volunteer, Bell said.

But, her job had other plans.

“That half-day I got off, I kind of needed at home,” she said.

The situation changed when Bell took a part-time job in the Craig Intermediate School lunchroom.

Spending time with Dommeniqc and her daughter, Tennielle, now a sixth-grader, was the reason for her job change, she said.

She now spends some of her free time at East Elementary.

“It’s good for the kids to see that you care what’s going on in their school,” she said.

Volunteering in the classroom has given Bell an inside look into an elementary school teacher’s daily life. And, in some cases, that view has been eye-opening.

“Anyone who thinks teachers work from 8 (a.m.) to 3 (p.m.) is crazy,” Bell said, adding that hearing the experiences of her sister, who also is a teacher, confirms her view.

“The teachers do a lot for our kids,” Bell said. “I like doing something for them.”

Cindy Johnson also lends a hand in the schools. She volunteers occasionally in her daughter’s third-grade classroom in Ridgeview Elementary School.

“They have our kids more than we do,” Johnson said. “It’s only fair that (parents) help out and try to involve” themselves.

Johnson believes volunteering at her child’s school also is part of her parental responsibilities.

“It’s up to us parents to instill what (children) need to learn and re-evaluate what the teachers are teaching them,” she said.

Between jobs and caring for younger children, some parents don’t have time to volunteer at the schools, McAlexander said.

“Especially when you start getting into the older grades, you don’t get as much help” in the classroom, she said.

Still, parents can — and often do — help in other ways.

Some bring extra supplies to class parties while others cut out paper materials needed for lessons, McAlexander said.

“Most of my parents make sure their children get their homework done,” she said, adding that academic help has an impact in the classroom, too.

“The more parent support you get, the better your student is going to do,” she said.