Every Tuesday, Hilary Peattie commutes three hours round-trip from Santa Barbara to Mary Buren Elementary School in Guadalupe to volunteer her time and expertise to five classes of third-grade children.
At Mary Buren, 60 percent of students have not had the opportunity to attend preschool, and 100 percent are on free or reduced school lunches. Most are from impoverished farm families.
Several years ago, after retiring from teaching first through fifth grades in local public schools, Peattie became involved with the social justice group JustFaith. The program required participants to do a “border crossing,” and she chose to volunteer at the Catholic Worker House in Guadalupe distributing food and clothing, running a summer camp for children and planting a school garden.
Peattie is a lithe, energetic 57-year-old emanating calm, gentleness and a keen interest in science. She now imparts her enthusiasm in hands-on science projects to 150 third-graders.
Fill the Bill is one of the learning experiences for the children. Peattie brings six specimen birds in cases borrowed from the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, six tools, such as tweezers, fish net and a nutcracker, and six foods, representing insects.
The children use the tools to retrieve the food for a particular species of bird, learning how different kinds of bird beaks have adapted to feed on different foods in their habitat. Peattie makes learning fun while fostering a love and awe of nature in her students.
As well as borrowing materials from the Museum of Natural History, Lotusland, UCSB, the Santa Maria Library and fellow science teachers, Peattie arranges for the children to go on field trips to these culturally enhancing destinations.
South County families often take it for granted that their children will have these learning experiences as part of the curriculum. There is no funding in Guadalupe for either science projects or transportation costs to these enriching local sites.
Peattie makes it clear that we make choices regarding how we spend our time and live our convictions. She demonstrates, by her volunteer work, that her purpose in life lies in enabling the children of the disenfranchised to be empowered by a love of learning. Overworked parents and poverty are not a recipe for emotional and intellectual growth. Yet, as we all know from experience, the positive effect of one loving person can overwhelm the negative effects of bad things that happen.
Through Contemplative Outreach, a community fostering contemplative prayer, Peattie met Suzanne Dunn, who eventually became the pastor of the Catholic Church of the Beatitudes. As a member of the Beatitudes community, Peattie feels supported by parishioners who promote social justice and foster spirituality while welcoming all to share in the Eucharist.
When I asked Peattie what motivates her to spend so much time and effort in Guadalupe, she responded: “When I walk across the playground at Mary Buren school and hear the excited voices of the kids calling my name and asking me what we are going to be learning about that day … it makes it all worthwhile.”
— Genie Hoyne is a member of the Catholic Church of the Beatitudes, which meets at 5:30 p.m. Saturdays at First Congregational Church of Santa Barbara, 2101 State St. Click here for more information, or call 805.252.4105. Click here for previous columns.