Mel Sunshine was so happy with the education his daughters, Jennifer and Ellen, received at Lemme Elementary, that he wanted to help out at the school.

“They got an excellent education there,” said Sunshine, 69. “I thought I wanted to go back there and give something back to them.”

When he retired from his job as a research scientist in the University of Iowa’s microbiology department in 2001, he decided he needed to keep active. A quick phone call to Joan Cook, the coordinator for the Retired Seniors Volunteer Program, led to a job helping in the records  department at the Iowa City Police Department.

But a Press-Citizen article about the Rock and Read program and RSVP in Iowa City schools in early 2002 led him to helping out more.

At Lemme, he began reading to first- and second-graders. Later that year, he met with South East Junior High resource teacher Jo McClure about helping in the    practical language arts and supported learning classes, which are for students who have difficulties reading.

“I saw the need for this one-on-one that Jo McClure finds best for working with the students,” Sunshine said. “When you work one-on-one, you see progress with the student.”

Sunshine now spends much of his time volunteering in the schools, spending three mornings a week at Lemme and three hours a day, Monday through Friday, at South East. He also works part-time as a simulated patient instructor at the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, helping medical students learn to diagnose patients.

However, most of his time is spent helping younger students learn to read.

“If they can’t read, they can’t learn,” Sunshine said. “They’ve got that feeling they can do it. It’s that pride in themselves that they can succeed. (I can) see that smile on their face when they got a B+ when they started with a D.”

— Rob Daniel

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