The joy of Joyce: 92-year-old shares gifts, life lessons and love as volunteer at St. Christopher School
At 92, Rachel Joyce shares a laugh with four of the third-grade students that she tutors at St. Christopher School in Indianapolis. From left, Noah Ratz, Alex Rios, Shelby Rendes and Matthew Hosp join in the joy as Joyce adds fun and work in a lesson about multiplication. (Photo by John Shaughnessy)
By John Shaughnessy
At 92, Rachel Joyce likes to share life lessons—and a humorous threat—when she tutors the third-grade students at St. Christopher School in Indianapolis.
Her life lessons to the children include this advice, “We’re all going to have bad times. Going to church will help you get through the bad times.”
As for her humorous threat, she makes it to the children when she thinks they need to commit more time to practicing their multiplication tables.
“I told one boy, ‘If you don’t know 7 times 4 is 28 by next week, I’m going to boil you in oil,’ ” Joyce says with a laugh. “On the way home that day, I thought about what I said and wondered what a parent would think: ‘What kind of person is helping my son who says she’ll boil him in oil?’
“I have to be careful. My sense of humor is different.”
Then in the next breath, she adds, “The next week I asked him, ‘What is 7 times 4?’ He said, ’28.’ I told a little girl next to him, ‘Go in the kitchen and tell them to turn down the fire.’ ”
To teach is to touch a life forever
While the fire can be turned down in the kitchen, the passion still burns in Joyce when it comes to educating children. Consider this:
Joyce spent 37 years as a teacher before she retired. Then in her retirement, she has spent the past 25 years substituting as a teacher or volunteering as a teacher’s assistant.
Joyce’s passion for teaching children led her to strike up a conversation with St. Christopher School principal Karen King after a Sunday Mass in the parish church during this school year.
“She stopped me and said, ‘I’d love to volunteer here,’ ” King recalls. “Our third-grade teacher had told me she wished she had someone who could come in and help. At 90-plus, she has a true love of learning to want to come back and help kids learn. My brother-in-law was a student of hers. She’ll see him at Mass and recall a story from his childhood of 40-plus years ago.”
That’s the connection that Joyce has always strived for as a teacher.
“I have a little plaque on my kitchen wall that says, ‘To teach is to touch a life forever,’ ” says Joyce, who spent seven years of her teaching career at St. Christopher School.
“When I come to Mass, I see some of my former students, and they treat me like a queen. One of the boys I taught is an usher at Mass here, and he always gives me a kiss. That’s a wonderful feeling when the kids you taught still like you. So many of my former students have been successful, and I love that.”
The joy of Joyce
Joyce’s love for children and her desire to see them succeed still radiates when she helps the third-grade students at St. Christopher with their math lessons.
“She’s kind, she’s good with math, and she’s fun,” says Alex Rios, one of the students who benefitted from her help with multiplication on a recent afternoon.
Her sense of humor also connects with the students. Before the help session started, third-grader Noah Ratz asked Joyce if she had brought her pot—the one for the boiling oil.
“She said she would boil us in oil if we didn’t practice our math facts,” Noah says with a laugh. “I thought it was funny.”
Humor has always been one of her best tools in teaching, Joyce says.
“A sense of humor is very important. My students loved to tease, and they knew I wouldn’t get mad. The day I hated to teach was April Fools’ Day. One time, my students took away my planning book and my grade book from my desk. I knew it was April Fools’ Day, so I acted like nothing had happened. I said, ‘We’ve been working so hard this year, so let’s have some fun today.’ All day, the kids were mad at me because I didn’t let on to what they had done.”
Her laughter soon turns to a knowing smile as she recalls another secret to her teaching success.
“I always tried to be fair and honest. I wanted them to reach the point where when they came to school, they wanted to come and learn. I always felt we had a lot of fun in my class as we were learning.”
The sunny side of life
One of the best lessons she has learned is how blessed she has been in her life. She glows when she mentions her two sons and her two grandchildren. She beams when she talks about her marriage of 60 years to her husband Tom.
“Tom said he fell in love with me at first sight. I fell in love with him soon after.” Her smile changes to a wistful look when she adds, “I’ve gone through some tough times, with Tom dying eight years ago. My faith has helped me through those tough times. My faith is very important to me.”
Her faith and her students remind her of the gifts and the love that she still has to share.
“I’ve always seen the sunny side of life.”
At 92, she still drives and still lives in her home. Besides tutoring, her other interests include shopping, playing bridge and serving as the president of an associate chapter of Tri Kappa, a philanthropic sorority involved in different causes around the Indianapolis area. She also enjoys socializing with a group she calls her “younger friends.”
“They’re all in their 70s,” she says, smiling. “They invite me to all of their parties.”
She then shares one of the foundations of the joyful attitude she brings to life.
One more lesson to share
“My motto is to give one compliment every day. And it has to be sincere,” she says. “There are so many lonely people out there, so many. This morning, I was at the doctor’s office. While I was waiting for my son to pick me up, I gave people some compliments, and their faces just lit up.”
The compliments flow her way at St. Christopher School.
“I love Mrs. Joyce,” says the third-grade teacher, Krystal Koucouthakis. “It’s so nice to have her help, and all her experience and wisdom. I always know she will have work for my kids to do. And she’s so nice. And the kids adore her.
“One of the things I’ve been talking to my kids about this year is being polite. When they’re with her, they’re so loving and caring. They’ll ask, ‘Can I walk Mrs. Joyce to her car?’ They’re learning from her in that way, too.”
Joyce has one more lesson to share before she ends her teaching for the day. She delivers the lesson with a smile.
“When you get older—if you’re not careful—you have nothing to look forward to when you get up. I look forward to coming over here. When the kids see me and say, ‘Hi, Mrs. Joyce!’ that’s nice.
“This is like a breath of fresh air for me. This is good for me. I’m having a lot of fun.” †
