JACK REYNOLDS

Jack Reynolds took a day off from school in April as he was sent to the governor’s office. Reynolds is a 78-year-old volunteer known as “Grandpa Jack” at Centennial Elementary. He’s also a member of the Retired & Senior Volunteer Program agind was recognized as an “outstanding volunteer” at a ceremony at the governor’s mansion on April 18.

Reynolds is heading into his 18th year at Centennial where he has his own desk in the third-grade classroom of teacher Linda Cohee. Though Reynolds volunteers in excess of 1,000 hours a year doing a variety of tasks, Cohee said she’d be lost without him. When Reynolds was out with an illness recently, Cohee said she found herself scrambling to her work and his as well so he wouldn’t come back to a pile of work.

For his part, Reynolds tries very hard not to miss a day of school. But his sense of humor comes out when he explains why his desk is in Cohee’s classroom even though he volunteers all over the campus. “They won’t let me out of the third grade,” Reynolds said.