Charles City celebrity: ‘I get to be 8 years old again,’ says foster grandparent, Grandma Annie

Five days a week, Annie Stallworth ambles into Lincoln Elementary School in Charles City, Iowa. The closer the 77-year-old gets to the third-grade classroom where she spends her day, the more excitement fills her spirit, pushing out adult concerns.

“Hey, Grandma Annie,” energetic 8-year-olds say as they flock to her with outstretched arms.

Five hours a day, she settles into the school day — providing hugs and smiles and helping the young students with reading and math. Something drew her to the ad for the Foster Grandparents Program. After she completed an application, passed a background check and was bonded, she gained dozens of little friends.

“Children just fascinate me. I get to be eight years old again, and I don’t have to worry about the grown-up world when I’m with children,” she said.

Grandma Annie is one of four foster grandparents at Lincoln Elementary School and about 50 foster grandparents in the program. Part of AmeriCorps Seniors, the program operates in more than 20 sites in Floyd, Chickasaw, Mitchell and Cerro Gordo counties. The program is celebrating its 52nd year and operates with a federal grant. The city of Charles City, population 7,396, is a local sponsor, said Jennifer Lantz, the program director.

Lantz, who has worked for the program for four years, said Grandma Annie enjoys a special relationship with students, teachers and staff.

“She’s a celebrity,” said Lantz.

Born in Alabama, Grandma Annie relocated to Charles City from Chicago, Illinois, where she had resided for 40 years. She has two sons and two grandchildren. Her son, Willie, wanted her closer to him during her illness and subsequent treatment for bladder and colon cancer, which is now in remission, she said.

In Grandma Annie’s classroom, everything around curious youngsters is a source of interest — including her cancer.

One boy told his church: ‘I want you to pray for Grandma Annie.” He wanted to “fight the cancer with prayer” and considered himself a lieutenant in the fight, she said.

Her class noticed her absences during treatment. Every day, they asked her how she was feeling and even advised her how to boost her immune system. They’d ask her questions, listen, then return to their play.

“Children don’t let your mind stay in one place,” she said. “They don’t let you dwell on things. When I’m with them, I don’t have time to think of me.”

Knowing how much she’s needed at school and knowing how her young pals prayed for her helped keep her going. Now, with the cancer in remission, she gives them a thumbs up when they ask about it.

“I don’t think I would have handled it as well as I do now because I had somebody to walk on the journey with me even though they were children,” she said.

The need for foster grandparents

Every day, the classroom of third-graders invites Grandma Annie into their world.

In a flash, she’s a kid again where everything is big and new. She works with small groups while the teacher, Taylor Elliott, leads the classroom. Some students trust her right away, while others may take a bit to warm up. But soon, everyone is calling her Grandma Annie and conferring all the warmth the title deserves.

“You don’t have old, cookie-smelling grandmas anymore,” Grandma Annie said. “You’d go to their house, and you’d always smell something good.”

Even so, a loving grandma is something every child needs, she said. The foster grandparents program is a beautiful pairing between children and the older generation, she said.

“I had an apron-wearing grandma. A whupping grandma,” she said. ”A kiss it away grandma, back in Alabama.”

The relationship between children and their foster grandparents is special, said Grandma Annie, who is embracing a second chance to be a kid. She hopes more adults sign up for the program, which she said benefits everyone.

“They need grandparents,” she said. “They need somebody they can come and lay their head on and, you know, kiss the finger and heal it.”

This story appears in the winter edition of the Black Iowa Newspaper.

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Charles City Foster Grandparents Program