OSP Volunteer Highlight: Janet Murphy

Janet Murphy, Opportunity Saint Paul volunteer

Edited by Emma Grisanzio, Program Support Coordinator, Opportunity Saint Paul

PLACEMENT | Saint Paul Public Library
VOLUNTEER ROLE | Homework Helper

Janet volunteers with the Saint Paul Public Library at Arlington Hills Community Center. The homework center supervisor there shared this highlight with us:

“Janet Murphy…is a really great addition to our staff. She is extremely flexible and diligent in her work. She is especially helpful with some of our kids that struggle with learning disabilities. Thank you for connecting her to us. We really appreciate her
contribution.”

We asked Janet about her volunteer experience so far:

Why did you decide to join Opportunity Saint Paul?
“I decided to join Opportunity Saint Paul because I am a retired Saint Paul teacher, and am well aware of the needs of the students in this district. I can make the time to tutor regularly. I also know some people have difficulty tutoring math, and it is one of my strengths and something I love to do. It is important to me to stay connected to the community and contributing in as many ways as I can.”

What’s your favorite aspect of your volunteering?
“I love the diversity of people at the library where I volunteer. We get everyone from kindergarten to adults coming in for assistance or a quiet place to study. Some people are occasional and others are regulars, and we get to know them a bit. I never know what I am going to be doing, and that, too, is a challenge. At times, something will really strike me…like helping a high school student (Karen from Burma) read and find literary techniques and make connections with The Latehomecomer, about a Hmong family escaping though the jungle, across the Mekong River, to Thailand and eventually to Saint Paul. He was making so many connections to his own life and family. I always come home feeling fortunate to have the life I have and the family I have, and all of the good fortune I have had in my life.”

Thank you for your great work, Janet!

To learn more about Opportunity Saint Paul, please contact:

Zac Poxleitner
Director, Opportunity Saint Paul
651-789-3860
zpoxleitner@interfaithaction.org