TUSTIN : Volunteer’s Work Aids Mom, Daughter

In 1987, Hilary Baker quit her job, started her own consulting business and became a school volunteer. She said she wished she could have done it sooner.

“It was a leap of faith,” said Baker, 51. “But, I wanted to be more involved in my daughter’s education.”

That decision has paid off. Her daughter, Jolene Baker, now 18, graduated last month from Tustin High School with a 4.2 grade-point average during her senior year. She has earned an academic scholarship to Whitworth College in Spokane, Wash., where she will also play on the varsity tennis team. For her part, Hilary Baker was chosen the 1992-93 Parent Volunteer of the Year by the Tustin Unified School District. She was also nominated for the national Outstanding School Volunteer Awards, which recognizes parent volunteers around the country.

Baker said it was “wonderful” that she got an award at the same time her daughter graduated from high school.

“It’s a pleasure to be a volunteer,” she said. “To receive an award for a wonderful experience, it’s really an icing on the cake.”

Baker said her volunteer work increased when her daughter joined the Tustin High varsity tennis team in 1989. She founded the Tustin High School Tennis Booster Club and led fund-raising efforts for the past three years.

She also became president of the Academic Booster Club, which provided academic and sports scholarships to Tustin High students. Club membership increased from 88 to 140 when she was president and more scholarships were awarded.

For the past two years, Baker has also volunteered more than 100 hours as manager of the bingo operation. She was a member of the Parent-Teacher Organization and has worked during the annual “Back to School” and “Grad Night.”

Jolene Baker said that sometimes she was embarrassed that her mother was always around the school and the tennis team.

“But it helped me,” she said. “She cared about what I did, and the students liked my mom, anyway.”

Hilary Baker is married to Al Baker, a bank manager, who is also involved in volunteer work. He is the treasurer of the Tustin Public Schools Foundation, which provides grants to teachers in the Tustin school district.

“Schools need the support,” Hilary Baker said. “I hear a lot of lament about the need for volunteers, but I see fewer and fewer people volunteering. The need is greater, but the manpower is less.”

She said many parents want to volunteer. But with the bad economy, many can’t afford for one parent to stay home and do volunteer work.

Now that her daughter is going off to college, Baker said she will cut down on her volunteer work. She wants to put more time into her consulting business--she does paralegal work for lawyers, engineers and other professionals.

She said she also wants new leaders, with new ideas, to lead Tustin High’s tennis and academic booster clubs.

“It was a tremendously rewarding experience,” she said. “I benefited a lot from what I was doing.”