- September 8, 2024
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Sue Packman retired as a teacher after 30 years in a classroom but, at 82, that doesn’t mean she’s stopped teaching.
Instead, she volunteers three times a week, two to three hours each day, with Reading Pals, a program that connects mentors with students struggling to read in pre-kindergarten to third grade classrooms. Volunteering, she said, keeps her moving, mentally and physically, and she loves helping kids learn to read.
“I think reading is the key to a lot in our life,” Packman said. “It gives us an opportunity to open many doors that we would not normally, in the course of our life, be exposed to.”
Packman taught elementary-aged children in Maryland, with a primary focus on special education, and she and her husband moved to Flagler County around eight years ago. Following her passion for teaching, Packman signed up with Flagler Volunteers Services and began volunteering with the state-managed Reading Pals.
I think reading is the key to a lot in our life. It gives us an opportunity to open many doors that we would not normally in the course of our life be exposed to.”
— SUE PACKMAN, Reading Pals volunteer
Packman started on her path to teaching in her mid-20’s, after she divorced and had two young children to take care of. There was a program at the time, she said, that helped women go to school and learn a career, like nursing or teaching.
“Special education was a field that really needed [people],” Packman said, “and since I love kids anyway, well, that seemed to be the spot for me.”
Packman said she was fortunate to work in a school that allowed her to reincorporate children labeled as special needs back into the classroom, instead of separating the children out. She said in her experience most of the children who were labeled as special education learned better in a classroom with their peers, with some extra instruction.
In Reading Pals, she said, she tries to do the same thing, helping not just the children in the Reading Pals program, but the other children in the classroom, too.
“[It] removes the stigma, you know, because everybody knows that it's not just these kids that go to the reading teacher, it's anybody in the classroom,” she said.
Volunteer Coordinator Judy Mazzella said Reading Pals volunteers commit to helping students for at least one hour each week for an entire school year. Mazzella said Packman is one of Reading Pals’ longest-running volunteers, consistently volunteering several times a week.
“She's just wonderful,” Mazzella said. “She is super passionate, and she cares so much about the kids and reading and devotes so much time to it.”
She is super passionate, and she cares so much about the kids and reading and devotes so much time to it.”
— JUDY MAZZELLA, Flagler Volunteer Services volunteer coordinator
Mazzella said Packman is a “stand out” volunteer, between her training as an education professional, her seven years of service, attending every training session and generally helping out wherever is needed.
“No matter what she sees her students on such a regular basis and … goes above and beyond when she's with them to make sure that they get what they need,” Mazzella said. “She's just awesome.”
Packman said she usually teaches between three and five children — sometimes more — during her Reading Pals volunteer hours. She helps the children who need extra instruction, but she makes it so fun that all the other children want to join in, too, kindergarten teacher Robyn McAnany said.
“Everybody asks, ‘Can we go over with Miss Sue,’” McAnany said. “Everybody wants to work with Miss Sue, because she just makes it so fun.”
McAnany is a teacher at Belle Terre Elementary School. Packman has been McAnany’s assigned Reading Pals mentor for the entire seven years Packman has been volunteering, though Packman has volunteered at multiple Flagler County schools through Reading Pals.
She said that Packman is always makes sure to celebrate every success and milestone to boost the children’s self-confidence. The best words to describe Packman, McAnany said, are dedicated, enthusiastic and very knowledgeable.
“She has as much energy as I have,” McAnany said. “She knows exactly what the kiddos need. And she's just truly passionate about it.”
She knows exactly what the kiddos need. And she's just truly passionate about it.”
— ROBYN MCANANY, kindergarten teacher at Belle Terre Ellementary
McAnany said she requests Packman every year as her Reading Pals mentor. She said she “hit the jackpot” with Packman, who actively asks the kids comprehension questions, takes turn letting the children share their perspectives and overall get the students excited about reading.
“She's just so excited to be there,” McAnany said. “I know that she just loves it. And we love our Miss Sue.”
Education is the drive for everything, Packman said, regardless of what field children grow up to work in.
“I think that kids need to be introduced to a lot of ideas about culture of all kinds,” she said. “And if you limit what they can be exposed to, you're limiting their ability to think.”
