Longtime Eagle Point Elementary School Volunteers Love to See the 'Spark'

Getting to see that spark, when a child grasps a concept for the first time, keeps volunteers Stacie and Mike Hafner coming back year after year to help out in Shannon Ostertag’s first-grade class, they said.

And after about 15 and 24 years respectively, the two have seen a lot of sparks.

For their volunteerism at the school, along with other community service, Stacie Hafner was one of 15 3M employees nationwide to receive the 2011 3M Community Volunteer Award, and Mike Hafner was one of 10 retirees across the country to win the 3M Community Volunteer Award for retirees.

Each Wednesday the Hafners show up at Ostertag’s classroom for about an hour to work with the students.

Sometimes, Stacie Hafner said, when she’s having a busy day, or a bad day, it’s difficult to leave work to volunteer, but afterwards, she never regrets having taken the time.

“You think 'I can’t, I shouldn’t, I need to stay at work,' but you get back and you’re just revitalized,” she said. “It takes you out of your rut, your doldrums, whatever.”

Stacie Hafner works with about two students each year following a program called Literacy Connection, Ostertag said.

“She just is a master at it and it’s just amazing how she gets these reading levels up,” Ostertag said. “She’s also so caring and loving.”

Mike Hafner quizzes the kids who need help with their sight words, which are frequently used words that readers need to know “on sight.”

“He turns those sight words into magic words, so they just magically know it,” she said. “The kids love him.”

Mike Hafner estimates that he’s worked with somewhere between 250 and 300 students over the years. He said the birth of his daughter in 1985 motivated him to start volunteering. He started in Ostertag's class at Beaver Lake Elementary School, and then moved over with her to Eagle Point after that school closed.

Stacie Hafner's motivation for volunteering was different. She wanted to help and support kids, but didn’t have a child of her own. When she was younger, she had even considered going into teaching, she said.

Now she works in the pricing and contracts area of the industrial and transportation business at 3M, and before Mike Hafner retired, he worked in 3M’s facilities area.

Because the Hafners volunteer over a minimum number of hours each year, 3M donates $500 to the school annually.

In addition to volunteering at Eagle Point Elementary School, the husband and wife volunteer with Meals on Wheels based in North St. Paul and donate blood platelets monthly.

Editor's Note: This article has been updated to include that Mike Hafner was selected to receive the community volunteer award for retirees.