Dorn Students Benefit from Mom's Volunteer Spirit

—Submitted by North Palos School District 117

Dorn Principal Eileen McCaffrey got a call a few years ago from a woman who was interested in volunteering at her school. But after reviewing the woman’s resume, McCaffrey admits to being more than a little bit suspicious.

“This woman has more degrees and endorsements than anyone I know around here,” McCaffrey remembers thinking. “Why would she want to volunteer when she could use those degrees to land a job as a paid teacher.”

The woman’s name is Betul Al Ahmadi. She is 56 and is a native of Turkey. Betul and her sons arrived in the United States in 2000, which she refers to as her “second birth.” She has a Turkish husband who works as a doctor in Saudi Arabia and provides financial support.

Betul holds bachelor’s degrees in political science, early childhood education and elementary education and master’s degrees in early childhood education and special education. She also has endorsements in English as a Second Language and Spanish bilingual. And she has accomplished all this while having a hearing disability.

Spanish is just one of four languages she speaks, including English, Turkish and Arabic.

Betul has become a fixture within the hallways and classrooms at Dorn School. She spends more than 20 hours each week working with kindergarten and first graders struggling with letter recognition and reading.

McCaffrey said Betul wanted to volunteer as much as possible.

“I remember her saying ‘Load me up’ and ‘fill my day’,” she said. “Our kids love working with her. She’s always so happy and really connects with the students.”

Betul said her role is that of supporting the teachers. “My job is to support the teachers so they can better help the children,” she said. “My two sons went through this district and all the teachers and staff here were fantastic. They helped my boys achieve academic success and I want to pay some of that back.”

She said she develops a relationship with the students before the actual learning begins. “They trust me and they feel comfortable with me,” Betul said. “They are both eager and hungry to learn. It is such a feeling of personal satisfaction when I see these students succeed.”

McCaffrey said students who need additional help are pulled out of class and work one-on-one or in small groups with Betul. She credits Principal McCaffrey and the Dorn teachers for being great role models to not just the students but to her.

“The kids and I spend a lot of time on letters, letters and sounds and sight words,” Betul said. “My job is to target their specific needs. I’m nothing special. I guess I consider myself a good Samaritan.”

Betul said she will continue volunteering and giving back to the district and the school she says gave so much to her and her sons. She said she lives her life steeped in religious principles. “The Qur’an says to teach people,” Betul said. “And that’s what I try to do.”

Her dream is to one day open a special education daycare facility where she can work with students and “teach them with love and passion.” “Everyone deserves a chance to learn,” Betul said. “Some can learn more than others, but we can all learn.”