Alamo Volunteer Receives Honor for Service to Children
By: Kristyn Hunt Cathey
Congratulations to Kiwanis Club of Baytown Partner in Education representative for Alamo Elementary, Harvey Oyler! He was recently selected as a recipient of the 2021 Heroes for Children Award for State Board of Education (SBOE) District 8.
This prestigious honor is given to 15 state educators in recognition of their outstanding service and support offered to the school community, staff and Texas students.
Oyler was nominated by his principal, Leah Abbate. He and the other 14 recipients will be honored during the State Board of Education general meeting on September 3rd in Austin. Mrs. Abbate said, “The 2020-2021 school year brought many challenges and changes, but the partnership between the Kiwanis Club of Baytown and Alamo Elementary continues without pause. Without the dedication of Mr. Oyler, Kiwanis would not support our school in the manner it does."
Kiwanis showed their appreciation to the staff by providing a back-to-school breakfast in the fall. They also purchased a cookie cake for National Cookie Day. Once a month, a basket of treats is found in the lounge. They donated gift cards to Starbucks and Kroger for the staff’s Turkey Hunt. We received a donation of Granny Smith, Gala, and Red Delicious apples from one of the club members, Chad Merling. For one of the 12 Days of Christmas, Kiwanis gifted the staff with breakfast tacos. When staff returned from winter break, Kiwanis provided a warm breakfast. For the spring semester, in lieu of the basket of treats, Kiwanis will provide a dessert bar on one of the asynchronous learning days. A set budget will be given to the principal to utilize at her discretion for Teacher Appreciation Week. A dolly was also purchased to help with delivering heavy loads.
The students’ needs are also a priority. Kiwanis purchased 200 earphones for first and second-grade students. Pencils and bracelets were purchased for Red Ribbon Week. College apparel was purchased for door prizes during College Week. Kiwanis Club covered half the cost of DARE shirts for fifth graders. Valentine Day cards were donated to help the students who were experiencing hardships. The Kiwanis Club also purchased pencils with the theme of “Alamo Elementary: Where great minds grow” and pencil toppers for students that made the A or A/B honor roll. Kiwanis budgeted a generous amount to cover the cost of some activities for Multicultural Week. To promote attendance, twelve bikes will be raffled to students that have met attendance criteria. The Kiwanis Club also helped collect over 200 Christmas cards to be sent to the troops overseas.
K-Kids continues to meet once a month; the club’s purpose is to provide leadership through service to the school and community. A few of their service projects included writing kind notes for the staff and placing them on their classroom door. K-Kids made hearts with special messages for each staff member and gave each custodian a gift to show how much they are appreciated.
Due to COVID, volunteer hours were limited, and volunteers were not allowed on campus. Regardless of the physical limitations, Mr. Oyler was committed to giving our students and staff the morale boosters and support we needed to get through this challenging year. The total allotted budget to cover the cost of activities for this school year was $3100, and the heart Mr. Oyler put into his work was priceless.”
Mr. Olyer said, “As a parent and concerned citizen, I feel the children of our community should have the best education possible including mentoring and support by community volunteers.”