How two retired educators changed a community

What happens when two gifted educators retire and move to a new community called Sun City Lincoln Hills but still feel a need to stay professionally active? Residents Sandy Frame and Cindy Moore can answer that question. They both retired from the Campbell Unified School District as teachers and started looking for an ideal retirement location. By coincidence, both Sid and Sandy Frame, and Joe and Cindy Moore were influenced by the Del Webb advertised lifestyle and found themselves reunited as new Lincoln residents in 2001. Both Cindy and Sandy came from families where service to your community was an important quality. They met and decided to approach the local school district with a proposal to create a SCHOOLS Volunteer Program, a program formally titled as "Sun City Helping Our Outstanding Lincoln Schools." Then-Superintendent Roger Yohe viewed the proposal enthusiastically. Both educators knew from personal experience that initiating such a program in a large school district would require a lot of advance preparation so up went the shirtsleeves to build the foundation for this challenging venture. Introducing the program The Western Placer Unified School District (WPUSD) covers all of Lincoln and also encompasses an area totaling 165 square miles in Placer County, including the city of Sheridan. An elected five-member school board hires the district's superintendent and monitors activities at 15 facilities with more than 700 employees and 7,300 students. The energetic twosome were well-aware that the success of their proposed program was based on convincing administrators and teachers in each school that the program was designed to assist them in the classroom and allow additional time for individual tutoring. Cindy agreed to visit each school and conduct a briefing regarding the proposal. Screening the volunteers The SCHOOLS program's success rested with making sure that each program volunteer was properly screened, trained and supervised. They met with Bob Romness, the then Lincoln Volunteer Center executive director, and developed a program to fingerprint each applicant for processing through the police department. Each applicant was also required to use their individual health plans to complete an examination for tuberculosis. Because this program was formed as a formal program through the Sun City Lincoln Hills Community Association, participation is limited to Lincoln Hills residents. Selecting and placing the volunteers Qualified and committed volunteers are the key to success and that includes placing each volunteer in an assignment that he/she feels comfortable doing. When Sandy and Cindy decided to proceed, they needed assistance with seeking volunteers as well as a meeting place. They found the ideal person in then Del Webb Lifestyle Director Jeannine Balcombe, who was in charge of the monthly Compass magazine and for assigning room space at the facility. Balcombe proved to be an enthusiastic supporter of the SCHOOLS program. She arranged for their first briefing session for volunteers in April 2003. By September, they had enrolled 26 volunteers. By 2010, the SCHOOLS program was so successful that Jeannine selected the 270 members to lead the Del Webb 10th-Anniversary Celebration Parade. That year, they logged more than 200 volunteer hours each week with 1,000 student contacts. An award-winning program For many years, district affairs were administered by Superintendent Scott Leaman, who retired in 2019. The SCHOOLS program received nine special awards and Scott played a key role in many of them. The awards included recognition by the All American Cities Committee, the Lincoln Volunteer Center Community Service Award, the Western Placer Unified School District School Board award, the Lincoln Hills Foundation Hat's Off award and the Ruby award from the Soroptimist International of Lincoln. Upon his retirement in 1999, Scott was replaced by internal candidate Kerry Callahan, who was charged with carrying out the district's mission: "To empower students with the skills, knowledge and attitudes for success in an ever-changing world." Kerry said that "The SCHOOLS program is critical to Western Placer. Without our dedicated volunteers, we wouldn't be able to offer many of the things we are able to offer to our students, tutoring, mentoring and supplies, to name a few. We are so grateful for the time and service we receive from the SCHOOLS volunteers." The Program Steering Committee includes Patti Kingston, Crystal Elledge, Irma Mendez and Cyndi Colloton. Cyndi also serves as the coordinator for new volunteers in Lincoln elementary schools, Irma for Phoenix High School and both are recruiting candidates for the 2022-2023 school year. Teaching experience is not required and there are a variety of ways to be of service. Interested candidates should contact Cyndi at ccolloton@yahoo.com for more information. The annual meeting for the program will be held at 10 a.m. Aug. 31 at the Kilaga Springs Presentation Hall. A success story An excellent example of the SCHOOLS program in action was included in the June edition of the Lincoln Hills Community Associations Compass Magazine. Crystal Elledge has been with the program since 2014 and volunteers at Phoenix Continuation High School. She conducts one-on-one training with teenagers in math, English and history with the goal of obtaining a high school diploma. They are a diverse group of teenagers and close to 90 percent have lived through a trauma, domestic violence or homelessness. On the campus, there is a real sense of community and they all support one another. Where they had been truants before, now they choose to be in school. Crystal said that she is making a difference in their lives. Many have graduated and gone on to college or junior college. The SCHOOLS program is creating success stories today as a direct result of the restless energy and dedication demonstrated by seniors Sandy Frame and Cindy Moore, 20-plus years ago. The entire community of Lincoln has been the beneficiary. Winston Churchill was quoted as saying "We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give." Cindy and Sandy know exactly what that means. Jim Datzman is active in Lincoln Hills and with the city of Lincoln Parks and Recreation Committee.