On February 16th Becky Schultz and her two students, Pachis and Veronica, along with their families celebrated Valentines Day with a special evening. Prior to this event the students had studied Valentines Day customs and vocabulary such as terms of endearment (Honey, sweetheart, sugar etc). They also studied the menu and discussed the dishes being served. They agreed that only English would be spoken that evening.

The group met at Becky’s house for a special Valentines dinner that included red & white heart shaped pasta and chocolates. After dinner they teamed up to play Sequence, a game that does not require English skills to enjoy. A good time was had by all!

Becky has been meeting with her two students for the past two years, and in addition to spending time twice a week with them, Becky also has a full time job. For the past three years she has been The Dentist with the Healthy Smiles program. She and her dental assistant, Elyssa, visit pre-school through eighth grade schools in Nevada County where more than thirty percent of the children are on the free lunch program. They provide preventive and educational services to about fifty kids per day. Talk about exhausting!! Since January 2010, they have had a fully-equipped mobile dental clinic which will allow them to provide full dental care when necessary.

Every Monday, Becky also volunteers as an AARP Tax aid for low and mid income people. When asked why she does this, she said she enjoys using a different part of the brain than she uses in the rest of her life. Becky has been a dentist for thirty years, and in 1993, she decided to get her MBA and did some management consulting for a short time. She and her husband also hosted foreign exchange students for twenty years, while their daughter was in school. They thoroughly enjoyed this wonderful cultural experience and finally stopped (she says laughingly) because the parents of the students were “younger than we were.”

Why does Becky tutor….”I like working one-on-one, it’s something I’m good at, and I like helping integrate people into our culture because it benefits the students and the community. They aren’t part of the hidden population anymore.” They say, when you need something done, ask a busy person…………That would be Becky.

Thank you, Becky, for giving so much of yourself.
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