TYPE III: VOLUNTEERING

FRAMEWORK
Type III:
Volunteering

Goal:
PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR VOLUNTEERS AND EXPERIENCES FOR STUDENTS

Benchmarks:
1. Find Coordinator
2. Goals and Guidelines
3. List of Opportunities
4. Letter
5. Schedule Meetings
6. Promote Activities
7. Staff Development

Types of Involvement
· Parenting
 · Communicating
» Volunteering
· Learning at Home
· Decision Making
· Collaborating with the Community


Organize volunteers and audiences to support the school and students. Provide volunteer opportunities in various locations and at various times. (Epstein et al., 2002)
The success of any school lies with the volunteers who bring experiences to students that would not be ventured into with the regular staff. Parents want to be a part of their child's educational experience and volunteering is one way that they can.

GOAL: PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR VOLUNTEERS AND EXPERIENCES FOR STUDENTS
Benchmark 1: Find Coordinator
Objective: Identify a member of the school community who will act as the volunteer coordinator

A volunteer coordinator will handle the responsibilities of attracting volunteers, managing student activities, training new volunteers and promoting the student activities.  This person will be a member of the School Improvement Council. Here is a more detailed list of duties:
  1. Manage Parent Volunteer forms
  2. Organize areas of volunteerism
  3. Maintain the Volunteer Internet Forum
  4. Contact volunteers when events are canceled

Benchmark 2: Goals and Guidelines
Objective: Define the goals of the volunteer program and compile a list of guidelines

The principal and volunteer coordinator will compose volunteer goals and guidelines and compile them into the Volunteer Handbook. This handbook will be given to all new volunteers and published on the school web site to provide information about the school's volunteer program.  Here is a list of sample goals and guidelines:
  1. Increase the quality of education for our students
  2. Regularly recognize volunteers as vital to our school learning community
  3. Confidentiality
  4. Supporting the teacher
  5. Keeping Commitments
  6. CPR/AED & First Aid

Benchmark 3: List of Opportunities
Objective: Use the School Improvement Council to generate a list of volunteer experiences

Volunteering in the classroom is only one of many opportunities for parents.  The School Improvement Council will generate a list of student experiences that will require volunteer support.  The obvious experiences are below:
  1. Classroom support
  2. Field Trip support
  3. Lunch room help
  4. Holiday help
  5. Fundraising

Here are a few experiences that could use volunteers:
  1. Coordinating the Student Wiki Newsletter
  2. Coordinating the Sim City Project

Benchmark 4: Letter
Objective: Compose a letter to be sent home to parents and local businesses asking for volunteers

A volunteer recruitment letter will be sent home to parents and to local businesses outlining the volunteer opportunities available.  A description of the necessary training and a copy of the guidelines will also be included.  This letter will be posted on the school web site in the parent/volunteer section.

Benchmark 5: Schedule Meetings
Objective: Publish meeting dates on the school calendar

A series of formal meetings will be scheduled throughout the year that will:
  1. Describe the volunteer program
  2. Offer volunteer training
  3. Encourage feedback about the program and the student experiences

A volunteer Internet forum will also be established so that volunteers can provide feedback if they are unable to attend the meetings or on a more frequent basis.

Benchmark 6: Promote Activities
Objective: Use the School web site to promote student activities

For those special student experiences requiring volunteers, the school web site will be used to promote the activities and provide praise and recognition for the participating students and volunteers. Schedule the local newspaper reporter and

Benchmark 7: Staff Development
Objective: Create a staff development workshop to train teachers about volunteer expectations

Teachers need to be exposed to the volunteer guidelines, volunteer expectations and the list of student experiences.  A dialogue needs to occur so that there are not any misunderstandings about what is expected from a volunteer, especially classroom volunteers.