Seniors mentor students

By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Bureau

WAI'ALAE — Ed Krentzman has a smile on his face for every one of his 400 students at Wai'alae Elementary School.

Ed Krentzman helps 8-year-old Angela Holton with a math assignment in Yvonne Wakata's third-grade class at Wai'alae Elementary School. Krentzman is part of a volunteer program called FELLOWS that helps students with school work. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

Krentzman enjoys what he's doing. He knows that he's helping others. At 72, Krentzman is working at his second career.

He and 19 other volunteers form the core of FELLOWS, the Fellowship of Lifelong Learning Opportunities at Wai'alae School. The program started about four years ago with Krentzman and Esther Yokoyama and the idea to build a senior center at the school where seniors can mentor students and help out in the classroom.

"Most of our time is spent in the classroom," Krentzman said. "We do a little bit of everything. One of the greatest joys, one of the gals said, was to get a leg hug."

The program works, Krentzman said, because he has the support of the principal and the school, which is a charter school, run by an independent board.

The FELLOWS program is catching on at other schools. Pu'uhale, Kalihi and Kainalu elementary schools all just started a program, and LeJardin will be meeting with Krentzman next month to talk about setting one up on their campus.

	How to help
•	To volunteer for the FELLOWS program — Fellowship and Lifelong Learning Opportunities at Wai'alae School — at Wai'alae Elementary School, contact Ed Krentzman at 226-6992.

For Krentzman, that's working with the second- and third-graders, helping them understand their math. Krentzman usually goes from desk to desk offering encouragement and assistance to the students. Sometimes, he sits at the back of the room, and students rush to be the first to sit next to him at the table.

"The kids are a lot calmer," said Yvonne Wakata, a third-grade teacher. "They're getting the help they need, and they're getting a grandfather figure. He's very soft-hearted. The kids love the attention."

Yokoyama wanders around all four first-grade classes, helping the students in their writing and reading. One day a week, she helps second graders in the same subjects.

She works with students one-on-one. The students call her Grandma Yokoyama or Mrs. Yokoyama. A retired elementary school teacher, Yokoyama is here because she doesn't want to be idle.

"It makes me feel good coming out and doing something," Yokoyama said.

The students feel good, too. They come and hug the senior citizen volunteers. They share about their families and accept help.

"When you have a hard time doing your work and need help, Mr. K helps us," said 7-year-old Joshua Ocariza, a third-grader.

Roy Yamashita, 8, said it's like having a grandfather in his third-grade classroom.

"He's nice," said Brendy Aoki, a third-grader. "He never gets mad."

Volunteers give as little as an hour a week or as much as a full-time job, like Yokoyama and Krentzman. The program has 20 volunteers now, and they say more are needed. Only a quarter of the volunteers are grandparents with children in the school. The rest are like Krentzman, who worked as a sales and marketing professional with Pitney-Bowes before his retirement: community-minded senior citizens who are looking for something to do.

The senior citizen volunteers aren't just about sums and grammar. During recess, they're interacting with the students in their center— a small classroom overlooking Petrie Park. The volunteers talk with the students, or play games with them. There's always a bag of cookies opened and a bottle of ice cold water in a tiny fridge.

Krentzman plays chess with students, too, teaching them the rules of the game in the short 15-minute recess.

"The teachers get the help they need, and the school gets the support, and we get the rewards of helping a kid," he said. "It's like having 400 grandkids, and I never had to change a diaper."