News Releases
May Volunteer of the Month: Nancy Groch
Willow Bend School PTA
Nancy is now in her sixth year of being involved with the Willow Bend PTA. Her nominators describe her as “a full-time PTA mom,” and the lengthy list of her activities at the school clearly indicates that is probably true.
Nancy began her PTA involvement when her oldest son entered kindergarten. That first year, she was a room mom and helped with reading, and she’s filled various PTA assignments since. This year she’s officially a room representative, newsletter editor, web chair, and produced the calendar, as she has for several years. But she also stepped in to complete the school directory, and (with another mom) to organize a Halloween party in a kindergarten classroom which had no room representative. She’s helped with kindergarten registration and the school’s used book exchange. She’s taken responsibility for keeping the PTA board apprised of activities and decisions of the Board of Education and at the district level. She laughs as she describes herself as “on call” to help teachers in their classrooms—willingly stepping in whenever her assistance is needed.
“No matter how bogged down she is with other projects, she’ll take on another one without question and with a smile,” her nominator said.
Nancy says she loves the “techy stuff”—working with computers, printing the newsletter, calendar, and directory, and she and another PTA member are in the process of developing a Willow Bend PTA website, which they hope to have up before the end of the school year. “I get to try new software, and it keeps me in touch with what’s going on in the tech world,” she says.
Nancy and her husband Tim have lived in Palatine for seven years. They are the parents of two sons, Eric, 11, who’s in fifth grade, and Ryan, 7, who’s in first. Nancy’s originally from Joliet. She studied finance at Northern Illinois University and also attended the University of Illinois. Before her children were born, Nancy worked as an office manager.
When she’s not at Willow Bend, Nancy is likely indulging in her passion for reading. She also enjoys gardening, having studied ornamental horticulture, and spending time with family.
What Nancy really deserves recognition for, her nominator said, is her can-do spirit and her “everlasting smile!”
Nancy will be recognized at the May 10, 2006, Board of Education meeting, to be held at Walter R. Sundling Junior High School, at 7 p.m.
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