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A Giant Impact

Posted in: JA Impact, Volunteers

Volunteers are the bread and butter to JA programs. Without the more than 8,000 people who dedicate their time equipping Arizona students, we would not be able to impact the futures of more than 70,000 students each year.

We have a group of individuals who have volunteered with JA for 10+ years. We proudly call these individuals our Golden Apple Society.

Jeff Geyer is one of those individuals. He started volunteering with JA in 2002 (that’s 14 years!). Standing 6’3″, Jeff is certainly a presence in the classrooms where he volunteers. Beyond teaching the lessons, Jeff takes the time to build relationships with the students in his classes.

Eight years ago, Jeff volunteered to teach a JA program to a Kindergarten class at Rose Linda School in Phoenix.  Jeff went out to play Duck-duck-goose with the students during recess one day, and a young man dubbed him “El Gigante” (the giant). Each year since, Jeff has “moved up” with that class as their JA volunteer.  Even as 7th graders,  Jeff still volunteer mentors them, providing critical JA education to the same group. And they still call him “El Gigante”!

A proud moment for Jeff was a couple years ago when he was at the Fiesta Bowl parade and noticed a familiar face.  The child was from one of Jeff’s JA classes. She was so excited to point out “El Gigante” to her mom.  According to Jeff, that’s the moment he realized he was making a positive impact on these students’ futures through JA.

Thank you, Jeff! And he is just one example of the many inspiring volunteers we have in the JA Family!