To her students, Jan Raine is a focused and attentive guide, connecting them to a world of learning.
“Most kids are frustrated at school. I don’t want them to come here and get that same feeling,” Jan said. “We’re making headway, and that’s all that counts.”
As the director of the Radcliff Reading Clinic, Jan gives one-on-one mentoring sessions with children and occasionally adults. She has taught there since 1988 after a 20-year career as a primary teacher. The clinic, with its tall book shelves and small study rooms, can be filled with kids who are studious or having temper tantrums. Either way, Jan is there to improve their reading, writing, grammar and math skills, sometimes squeezing into small chairs or children’s desks to be at their level.
An arm around a student’s shoulder or a pat on the head is all Jan needs to do to show encouragement. “I just care a whole lot, and maybe I can give them something along the way that will make a difference in their life,” she said.
Since her own children are grown and her husband died three years ago, the majority of her time is spent taking care of her students. Jan wants and expects the same from her students as she did from her own children when they were in school. “They’re kind of like mine,” she said.
“Sometimes you get close to the families, and they rely on you,” Jan said.
Connie Clem takes her 8-year-old grandson Tanner Hess to the clinic regularly on Friday afternoons for sessions with Jan. “She’s excellent. She’s so knowledgeable,” she said. “She’s a class act, she really is.”
To Jan, it’s just a matter of giving back to the community.
“This is pretty much my life,” she said.
