Andy Rooney once said, “The best classroom in the world is at the feet of the elderly.”

And if that is the case, then Tracy Ector, care coordinator/Community Care Services Program for the Middle Flint Area Council on Aging Inc., should have her doctorate.

Ector, who has her bachelor of science in psychology and a gerontology certificate from Georgia Southwestern State University, first fell in love with older people as a child.

“I grew up in the home with my mother and grandmother,” the Greenville native said. “My grandmother was always visiting people, and that is when I first learned how to be comfortable with the elderly.

“I would go visit, or even just sit down and watch television with them,” Ector said. “Sometimes, that is all they want: human contact.”

Ector first came to Americus over 15 years ago as a college student, and decided to stay.

“I just found that the people here are great. I love the friendliness, and the town is pretty,” she said.

A member of the Americus-Sumter County Chamber of Commerce, Ector has served as the Ambassador of the Year, Youth Leadership co-chairperson, Ambassador Connection Program president, is a Leadership Sumter graduate, and was the Community Development Volunteer of the Year. She also serves as the Civitan International Americus Chapter secretary, Middle Flint Area Annual Senior Citizens picnic coordinator, Lower Chattahoochee Georgia Older Worker Network Liaison, and is a member of the Americus-Sumter County Theater and Cultural Center Authority, AmericGospel Executive Committee and Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Life.

She has received training through the Community Care Services Program, Georgia Area Agency on Aging Caregiver Assessment Project, Consumer Directed Option for Personal Support Services, and at the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving National Summits. Ector also has her certification from the American Red Cross in CPR and First Aid.

The former Day Treatment Program supervisor for America’s Counseling Services in Buena Vista, also served as the Direct Care specialist with the program.

A volunteer with the Make A Wish Foundation, Ector credits her upbringing as the foundation for her love of helping people.

“Anytime anyone needed or wanted anything, my mother and grandmother were there. Mom would give rides to people, whatever they needed.”

“I love it when people make me smile, and I like to make people smile. It is like an instinct: my desire to help people.” Ector also tries to see the good in people first.

Recently, through the Make A Wish Foundation, Ector played an integral part in giving a young girl a shopping spree.

“We went to Columbus to Wal-Mart, where they made a big deal of her coming. They gave her flowers and she wanted an I-pod.”