Helping kids learn, one day at a time

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This article was published 30/09/2019 (2224 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ask Armenia Evaristo why she volunteers and she offers a straightforward answer: “I just like giving back.”

The 66-year-old Maples resident is one of the volunteers at the Learning Disabilities Association of Manitoba.

The organization, located on Erin Street, offers programming, support and advocacy for individuals who have a learning disability or attention deficit disorder.

Evaristo got involved five years ago because she loves children. Now, she volunteers four times a week.

She spends an hour every Monday and Wednesday evening helping with Links, a program in which students improve their reading, writing and phonological processing.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Evaristo spends the day helping with the Arrowsmith program, which aims to empower students to become effective, confident and self-directed learners in a variety of subject areas.

“Basically, I’m here to assist the teachers in any way I can,” Evaristo says.

In the Links program, Evaristo works one-on-one with students, helping them with their reading. She typically works with the same student twice a week, for a period of 10 weeks. In the Arrowsmith program, Evaristo assesses student assignments and assists with classroom activities.

Interacting with students is what she enjoys most. She recalls one boy who was 10 or 11 and had almost no reading ability before they started working together.

By the end of their time together, he could read at a Grade 1 or Grade 2 level.

Retired from Red River College, where she spent 42 years working as an instructor in the dental assisting program, Evaristo is no stranger to volunteering.

She served at various times as president, secretary and treasurer of the Manitoba Dental Assistants Association, and she sat on the National Dental Assisting Examining Board’s board of directors.

Evaristo, who was born in Sao Miguel, Portugal, has also volunteered with the Casa do Minho Portuguese Centre on Wall Street for more than 30 years. In that time, she’s worked in the kitchen, helped with Folklorama, and served as treasurer and president.

“It’s almost a high you get when you do something and somebody appreciates it,” she says.

“You see the light bulb go on, and there’s just no way to express how that feels. It’s just unbelievable.”

Association staff appreciate Evaristo, says Karen Velthuys, the organization’s executive director.

“She is so dedicated to our organization and our students,” Velthuys says. “She’s just one of those people that everyone loves, whether it’s the teachers or students.”

The association serves more than 200 students, including children and adults. About 30 volunteers assist the organization’s five staff members, and Velthuys is looking for more people to get involved.

Velthuys is seeking additional Links and Arrowsmith volunteers, as well as a social media co-ordinator, people who can offer administrative support and people who can lead the organization’s new Lego Club — a social development program that teaches students how to work as a team while building Lego.

Anyone interested can email Velthuys at kvelthuys@ldamanitoba.org.

If you know a special volunteer, please contact aaron.epp@gmail.com.