Jiminez earns WAGES award - Wayne-Wilson News Leader, Fremont, NC

20 March 2008 — Sometimes, people get the impression that it takes endless hours of work and sacrifice to make a difference for one child. Michelle Jimenez of Eureka recently discovered that even the smallest of her actions had a large impact on a group of preschoolers.

Michelle was honored last month by WAGES as a Mom of the Year for her volunteer service in the classroom. But if you ask Michelle, her real volunteer service started after she was nominated for the award, not before.

Last school year, her son was attending the WAGES Head Start at the Herman Center in Goldsboro. Michelle said she had volunteered in her son’s classroom a handful of times, just reading to the kids or giving whatever help the teacher needed.

She had also joined the parent’s council, and decided to donate an extra $25 with her $5 parents' fee to cover expenses or the membership fee for a few parents who might not be able to afford it.

But then in September, Michelle suffered a heart attack that landed her in the hospital for a while. During her recovery, she said she began to see the impact that even what she thought was a small effort made on the kids in the program.

“They sent me cards and balloons while I was in the hospital,” she said. “It’s just so nice that they thought enough to do that.”

Soon after she was out of the hospital and getting back into her routine, Michelle said the director of the Herman Center sat her down and told her she had been nominated for a Parent of the Year award.

“I didn’t think I had done enough to be nominated,” Michelle said. “I said all I did was give a little money and come read to the kids. But she said that that was the most involvement she had seen from any of the parents.”

As she reflected on her experiences in the hospital and the news of her nomination, Michelle decided to devote more time to volunteering. She began working with the parents’ council and began getting involved with parenting classes.

One program in particular helped her a lot. Michelle’s son Jonathan, who is three, was born around the same time as her niece. Both babies were premature, but Michelle’s niece has some developmental disabilities related to her early birth, while Jonathan is actually a little accelerated for his age.

At the time, Michelle’s niece was living with her, and she took the classes to help out her niece. Over time, she has stayed involved with the program, and has continued to serve on the WAGES disability services board.

This school year, Michelle volunteers at the Pikeville center, where her son attends, and at the WAGES central building in Goldsboro. She is also the vice chair of the WAGES policy council and serves on the personnel committee.

At the Pikeville center, Michelle helps out in the classrooms. She reads and plays with the kids, and she also spends time organizing school projects and trips for the kids.

Michelle said that it’s important for her to be involved with her son’s classroom because it sets a good example for him, and shows that education is important.

“This is my investment,” she said. “I want him to look at his mom and follow her example.”

In addition to her work in the classroom, Michelle is working to set that bar higher for her son. She went back to school to get her GED last year, and has been accepted to the Medical Assistance program at Wayne Community College.

She also balances a job with the Cain Gallery in Goldsboro with her other duties, a position she will earn credit for at Wayne Community.

With all those obligations that keep her busy, Michelle said she is glad she has the help of her family to keep things going smoothly. She lives in Eureka with her mother, who works at Northeast Elementary, and she lives down the street from her brother and his family.

But even with help, Michelle said some people express worry that she’s not taking care of herself. However, Michelle said that everything she’s got going on is not about her, it’s about building a future for her son. And having that positive spin on life has made all the difference for her.

“Last year before I had the heart attack – at the time I was under a lot of stress, and I was in a bad depression stage,” she said. “Things were not looking pretty. When it all changed was when I started volunteering at the Herman Street center.”

She adds that, as a mom, her motivator is to make sure her son has a better life than she has. Michelle noted that, while growing up in Washington, D.C., her childhood wasn’t as bad as some, but it wasn’t exactly ideal either.

“It wasn’t the Cosby Show kind of childhood,” she said.

She dropped out of school as a teenager and began getting involved with boys, eventually getting into an abusive relationship. She left that relationship and started over in Wayne County, where she had family.

She said that, while she remembers hating Eureka and Goldsboro when she came to visit as a teenager, she finds that it suits her better as a mother. She adds that she wouldn’t want to raise Jonathan in the environment she was living in, in Washington.

“He’s happy,” she concluded, “and that’s what I want. He’s my only child and I love him and want to see him succeed at everything.”

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Issue of 20 March 2008

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