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Crestwood declares Nov. 20 Grandpa Steve Day

A lovable Grandpa is awarded with his own day in Crestwood for his consistent volunteerism at Concord Elementary School in South County.

South Saint Louis County — CRESTWOOD, Mo. — The City of Crestwood has officially declared November 20 Grandpa Steve Day.

Steve Ippolito was recognized at Concord Elementary School for always lending a helping hand to the students and staff.

Grandpa Steve holds many titles: He’s a crosswalk guard before and after school, cuts out papers, manages the lost and found, organizes the STEM Makerspace, decorates bulletin boards and assembles furniture for teachers(teachers call him an IKEA pro).

No matter the task, his response is always the same: “Sure, I’ll do it.”

Grandpa Steve has been helping out at the school for the past five years.

“To help a teacher you help a kid, or help a child,” Steve said.

He has two granddaughters that attend Concord Elementary.

“When you volunteer at a school where your granddaughters go, there's no other place I'd rather be,” he said.

He does a good job of spreading his love not only to students but the staff as well.

"(The) big projects that we have, he just steps up and helps us out with those,” Principal Angie Moehlmann said.

“We do have a lot of staff members that are here but he just does any odd or end job that we have with a smile and big heart to help us out.”

Despite his old school work ethic, he still finds time to wiggle in his grandpa humor.

Last year Ippolito was named a Lindbergh Leader, the districts highest honor. This year, the parent-teacher group arranged a surprise assembly to announce that November 20 is always “Grandpa” Steve Ippolito Day in Crestwood.

“I didn't really want to be surprised because that's not me,” the lovable grandpa said.

“I'd rather be doing. But that's fine, I appreciate it.”

If nothing else, Grandpa Steve hopes the students follow in his footsteps to try and make his community even better.

“You do that through volunteering or just being a nice person,” Grandpa Steve said.

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