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Pay it forward legacy to Wapato educators
- By Rosemary Dellinger
- Published 08/31/2010
- Commentary
- Unrated
Pay it forward – the polite, catch-term came to life a few years back in Hollywood. It involves taking a gesture or kind deed you receive from someone and giving (paying it forward) it to someone else.
I am not a big movie buff and didn’t see it on the big screen, but savvy movie producers quickly took full advantage of the opportunity and even turned the well-coined term into a blockbuster movie starring Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt.
Despite opportunistic Hollywood types cashing in on what is actually a good deed, paying if forward is alive and well in our little valley.
This past week, I had the pleasure of taking part in a “pay if forward” event of sorts.
Ironically, a woman in the education field created the term “pay if forward” in 2000.
Lorence and Iris Heikell were longtime Wapato educators. The couple met while teaching at the old Bradshaw School – a rural, two-room schoolhouse outside Wapato. Both were dedicated to their profession. After teaching at Bradshaw for five years, Lorence accepted a position as a sixth grade teacher at Central Elementary School in Wapato and was eventually named the school’s principal. A position he proudly served from 1933 to 1964.
Both Lorence and Iris were dedicated to their students and their professions. According to family members, Lorence could have been the inspiration for Wapato School’s hot lunch program. He created a “Soup Kitchen” for students using a bartering method to obtain locally grown vegetables in the kitchen create soup lunches for hungry students. Lorence obviously understood the importance of feeding both a student’s hungry young mind and hungry, growling stomach.
Many in the community also knew Iris for her dedication to students, especially those young children who had trouble learning to read.
After their deaths, the couple’s children and grandchildren wanted to do something to honor their parents while giving back to the community and the students they both loved so much.
So in a “pay it forward” tribute, two years ago the family instituted a school supplies drive at their annual summer family reunions. All those who attended the reunion were asked to bring school supplies, which were in turn donated to classrooms at Camas Elementary.
Last year and again last week, Lorence and Iris’s daughter, Ellena and her husband Roger (also a longtime educator) brought a car to the school filled with school supplies for students to use during the upcoming school year.
Lorence and Iris dedicated their lives to schoolchildren. Although they are gone, their impact and the importance they placed on educating students’ lives on today.
What a great honor for two people dedicated to growing and improving young minds.
When you think about your legacy, what impact would your personal footprint leave?
We all have numerous opportunities to serve. But, so often we all are quick to note “how busy we are” when asked to volunteer, help out at an event, serve on a committee or just simply offer help or kindness to a friend in need.
Perhaps the legacy of Lorence and Iris can inspire more of us and serve as an example of how we can go outside ourselves just a little more to “pay it forward.”
I am not a big movie buff and didn’t see it on the big screen, but savvy movie producers quickly took full advantage of the opportunity and even turned the well-coined term into a blockbuster movie starring Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt.
Despite opportunistic Hollywood types cashing in on what is actually a good deed, paying if forward is alive and well in our little valley.
This past week, I had the pleasure of taking part in a “pay if forward” event of sorts.
Ironically, a woman in the education field created the term “pay if forward” in 2000.
Lorence and Iris Heikell were longtime Wapato educators. The couple met while teaching at the old Bradshaw School – a rural, two-room schoolhouse outside Wapato. Both were dedicated to their profession. After teaching at Bradshaw for five years, Lorence accepted a position as a sixth grade teacher at Central Elementary School in Wapato and was eventually named the school’s principal. A position he proudly served from 1933 to 1964.
Both Lorence and Iris were dedicated to their students and their professions. According to family members, Lorence could have been the inspiration for Wapato School’s hot lunch program. He created a “Soup Kitchen” for students using a bartering method to obtain locally grown vegetables in the kitchen create soup lunches for hungry students. Lorence obviously understood the importance of feeding both a student’s hungry young mind and hungry, growling stomach.
Many in the community also knew Iris for her dedication to students, especially those young children who had trouble learning to read.
After their deaths, the couple’s children and grandchildren wanted to do something to honor their parents while giving back to the community and the students they both loved so much.
So in a “pay it forward” tribute, two years ago the family instituted a school supplies drive at their annual summer family reunions. All those who attended the reunion were asked to bring school supplies, which were in turn donated to classrooms at Camas Elementary.
Last year and again last week, Lorence and Iris’s daughter, Ellena and her husband Roger (also a longtime educator) brought a car to the school filled with school supplies for students to use during the upcoming school year.
Lorence and Iris dedicated their lives to schoolchildren. Although they are gone, their impact and the importance they placed on educating students’ lives on today.
What a great honor for two people dedicated to growing and improving young minds.
When you think about your legacy, what impact would your personal footprint leave?
We all have numerous opportunities to serve. But, so often we all are quick to note “how busy we are” when asked to volunteer, help out at an event, serve on a committee or just simply offer help or kindness to a friend in need.
Perhaps the legacy of Lorence and Iris can inspire more of us and serve as an example of how we can go outside ourselves just a little more to “pay it forward.”