Students learn �old-school values�
For many students, school volunteer Max Freeman is the only grandfather figure they will know.
Mr Freeman, 79, believes he gets just as much out of volunteering as do the children he spends time with a few hours a week.
He is a member of the School Volunteer Program, which provides about 1000 volunteers for mentoring and literacy support to more than 2000 children in 200 schools.
Education Minister Peter Collier said yesterday the program would get $98,352 from Lotterywest so it could take on up to 200 more volunteers.
Mr Freeman, who has been visiting the school for about a decade, said he spent time talking with students or playing traditional games.
"We might play I-spy for 10 minutes, which improves their spelling," he said.
"The boys love having a game of cards, like poker or fish. It's just a time when they're under no pressure."
Mr Freeman, who spent 25 years in the Scout movement, also volunteers for radio lollipop at Murdoch Hospital and plays cricket with children with disabilities.
He started volunteering when he was struggling to cope after his wife Valerie died.
"I wouldn't know what to do without it," he said.
East Hamilton Primary School deputy principal Chris Warren said Mr Freeman brought "old-school values" to the students.
"They share their lives with him and he talks about different ways they can deal with situations," he said.
