By NORINE ROWE
NAS Patuxent River Public Affairs

PATUXENT RIVER NAVAL AIR STATION, MD— While Sandy Draham works as an operations research analyst for NAVAIR’s Warfare Analysis Department four days out of the week, on Fridays she goes to what she calls her other, “non-paying job” as a room mom at St. Leonard Elementary in Calvert County.

“I basically attach myself to the hip of my son’s homeroom teacher,” said Draham, who has volunteered as a room mom ever since her son, Robert, started going to the school as a kindergartener.

That was five years ago. Since then, Draham has tutored students at St. Leonard Elementary in math, science and reading. She has coordinated chaperones for field trips. And she has helped her son’s homeroom teacher with science projects, special classroom activities and what she calls “grunt work” — filing, copying and other administrative tasks.

“I get a sense of satisfaction knowing that I’ve tried to provide a positive influence by helping the teacher and the kids here,” Draham said.

After transferring to Southern Maryland from Warminster, Pa., in 1996, Draham and her husband, Michael, settled in Port Republic in Calvert County. After enrolling their son in kindergarten, the Drahams received a notice seeking school volunteers. It struck a chord.
“I was a bit of a frustrated teacher,” said Sandy Draham, who earned her teacher’s certification in secondary education in Pennsylvania before deciding to work for the government. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in math and a master’s degree in engineering.

Recently, Sandy Draham was tapped for yet another volunteer assignment at St. Leonard Elementary as coach of the school’s fourth- and fifth-grade math teams.

“The boys and girls really enjoy working with Mrs. Draham,” said third-grade teacher Jennifer Hudson, who serves as the school’s representative on the Calvert County Math Committee. “She really gets into helping the kids succeed and making learning fun for them.”

Almost all of the students Draham coaches are honors math students.

“My favorite subject is math, so this if fun for me,” said fifth-grader Chase Camera.
Another fifth-grader, Jessica Snell, talked about what she gets out of the math team.
“If there’s something we don’t understand in math, the math team allows us to work on it as a group,” Snell said.

Recently, Draham helped prepare the school math teams for a regional math challenge sponsored by the Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative. In addition to Fridays at the school, she went in other afternoons to work on math problems with the students, coach them on competition strategies, and review sample tests with them. The event was held April 26, and while the students didn’t win, they enjoyed taking part in this math competition that pitted 161 Calvert County fourth- and fifth-graders against one another.
“We’re chalking it up to a good learning experience,” Draham said.

In addition to her role as math team coach and room mom, Draham coordinates the Personal Excellence Partnership between St. Leonard Elementary and NAVAIR. Draham’s husband, Michael, established the partnership in 2000 and now tutors third-graders at the school. About five other NAVAIR employees volunteer there as well.
“This math challenge has given me a chance to expand my focus as a volunteer,” Sandy Draham said. “I hope that other activities like this can be used to expand NAVAIR volunteer opportunities here.”

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Photo by Norine Rowe
Sandy Draham, an operations research analyst with NAVAIR’S Warfare Analysis Department, tutors the fifth-grade math team at St. Leonard Elementary School in Calvert County. Draham, who coordinates a Personal Excellence Partnership at the school, has served as a room mom there for the past five years.