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Going Back to School... as a Volunteer

© Lisa Stambaugh

Having just finished coordinating an immense volunteer project at my son's junior high school, I am reminded of the incredible value of volunteers within our school system. It's a sure bet that no school can be successful without the help and support of parents, families, community members, and local businesses.

As the chairperson of the graduation (both the ceremony and party), I was impressed with the number of volunteer hours we racked up: from planning to execution, and right through the clean-up efforts. Volunteers coordinated food, decorations, entertainment, photography, monthly newsletters to parents, invitations, meetings, rental and set-up of equipment (stage, chairs, lights, sound, generators), telephone tasks, documentation, and clean-up. With our beach/boardwalk theme, we had quite an array of props, decorations and sets to construct - from a boardwalk to the 10-foot-tall sandcastle and 12-foot lighthouse!

Of course the majority of our volunteers for the 8th-grade graduation preparation were - you guessed it - parents of 8th-graders. But in addition, we had an amazing turn-out of 7th-grade parents who chaperoned the party, consistent with our school's tradition of letting the 8th-graders celebrate without their own parents hovering about. We even had volunteers whose children were beyond the junior high years, as well as college students who had attended the junior high.

We also had several local business people and community members who donated their skills, staff and time to make the project successful:

• The construction manager who brought his crew to build the boardwalk that led from the school entrance to the dance area in the gym.
• The professional photographer who came to take pictures before the ceremony and party, so we would have good lay-out diagrams for next year's committee.
• The local coffee shop who donated pumpkin bread for worker snacks on one of our big set-up days.
• The professional magician (a student's grandfather) and two fortune-tellers (high school drama students) who donated their performances at the party.
• The florist who donated a lovely flower arrangement for the stage during the ceremony.
• The list goes on and on...

Which brings me to my point: do you have a skill or service you could donate to a local school, to use in one of their big projects? Are you a Photographer? Decorator? Artist? Florist? Web Development professional? Do you have Organizational skills? Computer skills? Baking skills? You don't have to be a parent at that school, to volunteer to help out. Maybe your own children have already graduated and moved on to another school - that doesn't mean that the school would not still appreciate your help! Or maybe you don't have any children of your own at home, and have always wondered just what is going on at the local schools... here's your chance to get involved! Consider these ideas...

The copyright of the article Going Back to School... as a Volunteer in Volunteering is owned by Lisa Stambaugh. Permission to republish Going Back to School... as a Volunteer in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.