&uot;Sometimes I&160;don’t know whether I’m coming or going,&uot;&160;said Theresa Lewis, and with good reason — the Natchez retiree keeps busy by volunteering with several organizations.

Lewis retired from the Natchez-Adams County public schools in 1979 as an elementary supervisor. So perhaps it’s no surprise that the work she does with children at Frazier Elementary is the most near and dear to her heart.

At the school, she reads books to children and helps with the Character Counts program, coaching them in topics from controlling their behavior to using good etiquette.

&uot;We just started (Character Counts), but teachers should begin to see changes in the students’ behavior over time, and the children look forward to it,&uot;&160;Lewis said. &uot;Eventually, we hope to expand it to Head Start. The younger you reach children, the better.&uot;

But her work with children doesn’t stop there. Lewis also volunteers at her church, Zion Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church, helping children build skills they need to succeed in school. Currently, she is coaching them on multiplication tables.

And Lewis is working to make sure that once students have the money to continue their learning in college. She is distributing applications for $2,000 to $4,000 college scholarships sponsored by the Conference of AME Churches.

Another project keeping Lewis busy is her work with the Adams County’s Homemakers Club. The club’s members are busy sewing quilts to raffle to benefit the Children’s Hospital in Jackson.

They have also sewed dolls that the hospital’s doctors use to show young patients what will be done during surgery to help alleviate their fears.

In addition, Lewis is active in LINKS as chaplain and a member of the organization’s committee on organ donation and in Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority as a bench member.

&uot;You name it, I’ve done it,&uot;&160;Lewis said.