How often are parents involved in our schools as volunteers? Getting involved and volunteering is much more than conferences and parent/teacher meetings. Educators need parents in schools because of the huge resource and support base they render to the school community. They send children a positive message that school is important.
As educators, we realize the increased opportunities students have by involving parents and community persons. Many schools could not run effectively without volunteers to enrich the education of children. The community outside of school helps to enrich academic programs. They act as advocates for schools and provide valuable PR by relating how well programs work.
Celebrations and projects in today’s schools have an educational purpose in the curriculum that can be enriched further by people who volunteer services or time. They teach respect and tolerance for individual differences. Not everyone shares the beliefs of the majority but everyone has the same right to believe and participate in planned activities during the school year. Programs in schools educate the whole child. Activities in schools create long-term development and success for all children.
Parents are needed in our schools today for enrichment purposes. Not just the parents that don’t work, all parents need to give time, especially around the holidays. The holidays bring about a much larger need as programs, projects, and celebrations occur.
As an educator, a list of suggestions for busy parents is helpful. A note sent home a week before a function or an announcement on the website isn’t enough. Neither are viewed in a timely manner. Emails, texts, and phone calls are most effective.
Many parents are busy and can’t always arrange to volunteer during the school day. Their claim is that there is not enough time in their day or they can’t take off work. Volunteering at school can be interpreted many ways. By sending a simple email, text, or phone call to the school to ask if something can be done from home to help during the day or the busy holiday can prove to be productive. This shows willingness to be a participant in the educational system.
Volunteers can help from home by sending weekly newsletters, notices, and mailings. They can message teachers for last-minute errands needed for a project. Volunteers can help finalize plans for a project, field trip, or fundraiser. Bulletin board letters and pictures can be cut out at home and sent to school for use.
Parents aren’t the only resource available for classroom assistance. Relatives and neighbors are willing to volunteer in schools. If there is a college nearby, the college students will use the time for community service.
A prepared sign-in sheet should be made available in the beginning of the year for individuals to sign up for activities throughout the school year. During the year, drop a note, an email, or send a text to update parents or just to say a friendly hello. This may take planning but will prove worthwhile during the school year.
Volunteering isn’t just something that nice people do – it is something that is vital to the community. Volunteers have a tremendous impact on the health of the school climate by connecting the community together as one. When parents and relatives come into the school to help, they act as mentors and role models to students.
A parent’s presence in school is important. The benefits of volunteering are monumental no matter how much or how little time is given. Take the time to find out how to get involved and to get others involved. Our schools and our children are our most precious resource.
