Pam Angstman

Pam Angstman has been associated with RSVP of North Central Iowa for 3 years as a Reading Buddies volunteer at the North Iowa Elementary School. She, also, serves on the RSVP Advisory Council and chairs the Program and Evaluation Committee.

Pam Angstman, retired high school teacher, shares this about her volunteer efforts, "Now that I have time, volunteering is great fun and returns great satisfaction. I am meeting many new people (previously I saw the same people over and over) and doing things that are interesting and stimulating for me. It gives me the same sense of ' making a difference that I had when taught but without most of the frustration!'" After teaching English and Spanish for 34 years Pam states she has more time for volunteering in the community which includes in addition to RSVP; church involvement, newspaper columnist, catechism teacher for high school students, editor of middle school literacy magazine, and school history committee.

Pam indicates that the most rewarding aspect of her volunteer work is the students. Through her efforts as a Reading Buddies volunteer last year, year end test scores showed 70% of the students she worked with improved their reading skills by one grade level. In a student survey 100% of the children Pam worked with stated that working with a Buddy helped them become a better reader and 75% stated they enjoy reading at home.