This blog post is dedicated to the memory of Mr. Lee Shulman, who volunteered for 14 years with GBJCL (nearly as long as our program’s existence) until he passed away this fall.
I unfortunately never met Lee, but I recently had the pleasure of meeting his son Steve at a GBJCL new tutor training. Steve has chosen join GBJCL and continue his father’s legacy as a volunteer in Ms. Colonette’s classroom at the Beethoven-Ohrenberger school in West Roxbury. I checked in with Steve recently, after tutoring got underway and found out firsthand how beloved a volunteer Lee was. “I love being there,” Steve says, “Because of how people thought of my dad, I feel like the son of a rock star.”
All of Lee’s friends and relatives knew that if you wanted to meet up with him, Thursday mornings were off-limits. That was his favorite morning, says Steve, the morning Lee volunteered in Ms Colonette’s classroom as a tutor. Steve explained that Lee had always loved children. “When we were kids, he went to our sporting events. When we got older, he did it for other people’s children. He loved being around kids and helping kids, so I think hearing about this program resonated with him.”
Lee tutored because he knew he was helping children, he got great satisfaction from it, and because he appreciated the strength of the relationship he built together with his students. Lee would tutor as long as school was open, even if it meant braving the New England winters. His close relationships with students at the school were shared; below you will find a photograph of a picture that one of Lee’s students drew for him. Steve treasures this picture and others as remembrances of his father, and his impact.
Please join us in honoring Lee by sharing your own stories and pictures from your time as a tutor with your friends and relatives or here with us at GBJCL. Your voices and stories are always welcome, on our Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/GBJCL), through email (literacy@jcrcboston.org), or by sharing your stories.
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