School volunteer stays young with youngsters

By Brenda Rader Mross
North Forty News

By the looks of seemingly ageless stars like Madonna, the now half-century-old singer, actress and goddess of marketing, maybe 50 is the new 30.

Would 80 then be the new 60?

Ask Fort Collins resident Betty Morris, who celebrated her 80th birthday without fanfare on New Year's Eve. (Her family threw her a big to-do when she turned 75.)

"It's just another number to me," Morris said. "Age is all in your mind. I feel about 60."

Mentally sharp as ever, with a wit to match, Morris acts even younger.

To any potentially envious contemporaries who may advise Morris to act her age, she said: "You need to get a life. Get off the chair. Get busy. Exercise. Get involved."

Of course the lady believes in walking her talk--and driving it, too. Morris has been driving herself to and from Wellington--a 25-minute trip one-way--every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for the past dozen years to volunteer at Eyestone Elementary School.

The year after her husband, Roy, died in 1995, Morris was sitting at her home on County Road 72 one day when suddenly she realized something.

"I thought, 'I'm a people person. I can't handle this anymore!'" Morris recalled. "I love kids, so I called up the local school and asked (secretary) Paula (Cardona) if they could use a volunteer. She said, 'Come out!'"

While Morris has two children and five grandchildren, none attended Eyestone. One wonders why after moving to Fort Collins she still makes the tri-weekly trek to Wellington to work with first- and second-graders for no remuneration.

"Because I want to," Morris simply stated. "Kids are our future, and teachers need the help. The more things I do to help, the more time they have to teach."

Morris insists volunteering is her gig by choice. "It beats the heck out of sitting at home," she said.

"I don't join clubs. I'm the athletic type. I'm not at all delicate or a homebody. I sew but I don't like to cook," Morris explained. "Listen, I am the one who's benefited. I look forward to going back to school just like I did when I was in school."

A 1946 high school graduate, Morris said she really liked school, especially history and music. Morris still enjoys singing and has performed her share of solos in her church choir. But when she was 8, the same age as many of her students, did Morris ever imagine she would be 80 and such a devoted volunteer?

"I never imagined myself, period," Morris deadpanned. "I was the 10th of 11 kids in my family. I got lost in the shuffle. As a student, I was naïve. Honestly, I didn't know who I was when I got married."

Roy Morris was a military man when he wedded Betty in 1949. They lived in Topeka and Omaha before moving to the Colorado Rockies in 1978, mainly for the drier climate. Roy ran his own heating and air conditioning business. Betty worked for Hewlett-Packard in production until 1990 when she retired to help care for her grandchildren.

"I'm not afraid of computers," scoffed Morris. "I built 'em. I programmed boards."

Admittedly, nothing much daunts this woman, but Morris knows she can, as she puts it, "scare the life out of the kids."

"I am firm, but with a lot of love," she said. "Kids need boundaries. I see so many of them push and push until they get what they want. I can say, 'No!'"

Morris said a lot has changed since she was a schoolgirl, not the least of which is the dress code. She's also noticed that so many children go home alone and have families that are split up. Today's students are more advanced learners, she believes, because they have to be.

"They're learning in kindergarten what I learned in the second grade," Morris said as she shook her head. "Society has them growing up so fast."

Eyestone second-grade teacher Ginger Montgomery has known Morris since 1996 and describes her as "fantastic, a good friend."

"She's my right arm," Montgomery said. "I can't imagine the program without her."

Montgomery said Morris arrives at 7:45 a.m., stays until 11 a.m., and does everything, which translates to copying, collating and working with students in small groups on reading, writing and math.

"Betty is also comfortable stepping in when there are behavior issues," Montgomery said. "She is dedicated to the kids and works well with all of them. She is caring, patient and dependable."

About teachers Morris said, "They are unbelievably devoted, unsung heroes."

Morris is so fond of children and teachers, in fact, that she said if she could, she would come back as a teacher or a principal of an elementary school.

While this grande dame of volunteerism could tell enough stories to fill a book and its sequel, Morris has a couple of favorites.

Once a boy blurted out, "You're old!" "You're young!" she shot right back. Then she whispered, "Honey, I'm a grandma. I have to be old."

Another time, Morris was shopping at the grocery store when a 6-foot tall man excitedly approached her.

"You're the lady that taught me to read!" he exclaimed. The now-grown man made Morris promise to wait right there so he could fetch his mom. "Without your help," said the man's mother, "my son never would've made it. He's now graduated from college."

"That," Morris said with a smile, "is worth all the time I've got in the world."

And this, according to the octogenarian, is what keeps one young: "Making a difference every day without even knowing it."

Betty Morris would be the first to say she's no saint, but to Eyestone staff and students, she is an angel.