Volunteering

 We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.
One of life's greatest gifts is the opportunity to give.
Volunteering to serve others is the rent we pay for the space we occupy in this world. 

 Volunteers

Dependable, trained volunteers are making significant contributions during times of tight district budgets and increased pressure for improved student achievement. School volunteer programs vary greatly depending on specific needs of individual schools and school staff. Volunteers work with children individually and in small groups in classrooms, the library and special programs. In our program, volunteers are recruited, trained and placed in classrooms or other areas by skilled volunteer coordinators.

Our school volunteer program involves community members from all walks of life. They may be students, parents senior citizens, business employees and community members. Due to decreased budgets, they are one of the few no cost/low cost ways to lower student teacher ratios and raise reading and math scores through more individualized instruction.

School Volunteers share...... their gifts of knowledge, time talent and resources. Volunteers include all kinds of people: parents, non-parents; college students and senior citizens; members of industry, business and professional organizations. They may be bakers, barbers, or bank presidents, but they all have one thing in common concern: the education and future of our children.

School Volunteers - Join the team.... by becoming involved and assisting in the classroom as tutor, teacher's aide or resource speaker, library, and office. Tutors also work on developing student self-esteem. Workshops are provided for persons interested in serving as tutors in the classrooms and other special programs. On-the-job training is provided by the staff in the individual schools.

Volunteering doesn't require a lot of time.... Most volunteers work about two hours per week and some volunteers - resource persons who present special programs or lectures - may go into the schools only once or twice a year. Every volunteer hour is a dividend paid to our students.

This year all of our schools in District Five had an active Volunteer Program. During the 2007-2008 school year, hundreds of volunteers gave 140,506.75 hours to this district. At the district's minimum wage of $5.15 per hour, the monetary value to the district is $723,609.76. From the Points of Light Foundation and the Independent Sector in Washington, D.C. the current wage rate for volunteer services is $17.19 per hour. This calculation is based on the average hourly rate for non-agricultural workers from the Economic Report of the President, plus 12% for fringe benefits as reported in Giving and Volunteering in the U.S., 2002. That figure would increase the value of our monetary contribution to $2,415,311.00. Local schools honored their volunteers during National Volunteer Week, the fourth week of April, with receptions, luncheons, awards, and gifts.

WHAT VOLUNTEERS CAN DO:

Volunteers give teachers extra hands.  Volunteers do anything that is supportive and supplementary.

• Tutor students on a one-to-one basis
• Run office and audio-visual equipment
• Share interests, hobbies, or travel
• Share careers
• Assist in classroom
• Help chaperone a filed trip
• Assist in media center or guidance
• Help with special projects
• Make bulletin boards
• Help children with programmed materials
• Read to children
• Help set up learning centers
• Expose a child to another language
• Set up experiments
• Help with P.E. Program
• Make puppets
• Lead art activities
• Demonstrate a musical instrument
• Be library assistants
• Be playground assistants
• Help under-achievers and over-achievers
• Show a filmstrip to a group
• Listen to children read
• Talk to children --be a friend

THEY SHOULD NOT:

• Diagnose student needs
• Prescribe instructional programs
• Present initial lessons
• Evaluate student progress and achievement although the volunteer may report student progress to the teacher when appropriate

VOLUNTEERS ARE EXPECTED TO: 

• Be reliable --realize the importance of being punctual
• Call if they cannot come in
• Respect the confidentiality of their work.  Any concerns should be discussed with teacher or school coordinator
• Know and conform to school policy
• Accept each task given by school staff as necessary as being performed to aid the education program
• Know the importance of the volunteer's role as an example to the students in behavior, speech and dress
• Realize that school records and relationships between staff members and children are confidential matters.

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