Teacher brings books, pencils and a friendly voice to Janet Weis Children's Hospital patients
DANVILLE – With many Pennsylvania school programs restarting this week, local teacher Mary Haas has a different assignment-- one that could find her teaching math to a first grader during the morning and then helping a high school student prepare for the SAT in the afternoon.
Employed through a program with the Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit, Haas tutors children who face long stays at Geisinger’s Janet Weis Children’s Hospital and psychiatric unit.
It’s a job that challenges and rewards her, and puts her in a non-traditional teaching setting.
“Day to day, I don’t know who I’ll be working with,” said Haas, a Northumberland resident who has been a teacher for 35 years. “It’s completely different from the classroom.”
Depending on the number of pediatric patients in the hospital, Haas has anywhere from no students to more than she can schedule during the day. When a child arrives, Haas calls their school to get their assignments. Hour-long tutoring sessions take place primarily at the student’s bedside.
Most of the tutoring involves basic math, writing and science book work—though Haas also helps students with art or science projects occasionally.
But it’s not all about studying. Haas also plays games with students, reads to them and participates in crafts.
Haas said she has developed a bond with some students. There was the girl last year who returned to Geisinger to thank Haas for helping her prepare for the SAT while the girl battled cancer. There was the first grader with an emergency condition several years ago who was scared and wouldn’t communicate with the hospital staff, until he opened up to Haas.
“I’m someone different,” Haas said. “I’m not going to take the child’s pulse or give them a shot.”
Yet aside from a stint as a volunteer at a local hospital years ago, Haas didn’t have any experience in healthcare or with sick children before she arrived at Geisinger in 1999.
“The kids go through so much that they sometimes can need a break from healing,” Haas said. “I just want to do my part to help them.”
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DANVILLE – With many Pennsylvania school programs restarting this week, local teacher Mary Haas has a different assignment-- one that could find her teaching math to a first grader during the morning and then helping a high school student prepare for the SAT in the afternoon.