Darci Beacom: the Power of One
Volunteer Highlight
July 16, 2022 at 10:26 a.m.
Darci Beacom, RSVP volunteer and ESL tutor
...by David Thornbrugh, RSVP member
Contributing to Power of One’s success was the diversity and expertise among the volunteers. As Darci says, “We had a fellow who was an absolute wizard at math and somebody else who knew several languages – so we all brought something different to the classroom.”
Because students rotate classes, the kids would go from Dari’s classroom on to a regular chemistry or biology class. Darci describes her professional background as “a lot of experience in corporate America.”
When entering the high school classroom for the first time, she admits to being concerned “because there wasn’t one common language.” She had some knowledge of French and Spanish, but “none of the students had those languages in their background.”
Relieved at not having to know the students’ languages, Darci was able to relax with her young charges. “They would laugh with us – they would laugh at us, probably. But they worked so hard. It was very inspiring to see how hard those kids worked.”
Being in the classroom for a year enabled Darci – who modestly describes her primary volunteer talent as “enthusiasm” – to find her footing. She learned that Ms. Thomas structured her class as pods, which rotate among the students’ language skills: “One pod would be focused on building language vocabulary and another pod would be working on comprehension and writing. And so, it was actually very easy to come into it, because the expectation was that English is what they were there to master.”
When she’s not tutoring, Darci Beacom nurtures her beautifully manicured garden.
Like everyone else, when the pandemic hit, the ESL volunteers had to scramble to adjust to a new reality. But Darci explains that Ms. Thomas “worked with the school district to get the OK for the volunteers that were assigned to her classroom to continue to participate via Zoom. We participated by helping in breakout rooms, as though we were in the classroom.”
Darci thinks Ms. Thomas is “absolutely incredible. She is very creative and empathetic. When I see a teacher working that hard to help the kids succeed, I just want to help.”
Darci continues to contribute to her community as a volunteer. “The whole RSVP program is amazing. I had no idea there were so many facets to it. We also volunteer for Northwest Neighbors network. It’s to try to help seniors stay in their houses, as long as they want. My husband and I are working both ends of the spectrum: I’m working with kids as they come up, and we’re working with seniors as they’re trying to stay in their house.”
Thanks so much for your service, Darci!
If you’re 55+ and interested in learning more about volunteering through Solid Ground’s RSVP of King County, please contact RSVP Coordinator Megan Wildhood at meganw@solid-ground.org or 206-694-6786.
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