Youth Partnership Program

Volunteer/Partnership Programs

 

 

 

You will be asked to complete a three part Youth Partnership Agreement Form for each volunteer site. Give the white copy to your school’s Youth Partnership Program Coordinator, the yellow copy to the agency/organization/school you volunteer at, and keep the pink copy for your files. This information is for program use only and will not be given to any other organization, group or person.

Select volunteer work that meets an identified community service with a public, non-profit agency. The agency should provide a safe, supervised environment and a volunteer job description, including any prerequisites. The duties should be meaningful and provide a service to the community. Your parent/guardian is solely responsible for selecting the agency where you volunteer.

Report on time to the staff who will supervise your job, and remain for the period of time for which you have committed your service. If illness or emergency arise, please inform the agency/organization where you volunteer as soon as possible.

Your appearance in dress and grooming should be appropriate for the setting. Ask your supervisor/teacher how they expect you to dress. Your image is important.

If the assignment does not prove to be what you expected or you feel your responsibilities are beyond your ability, discuss this with your supervisor and parent/guardian. NEVER DO ANYTHING THAT MAKES YOU FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE. Report this to your parent/guardian, school guidance counselor, YPP Coordinator, or other trusted adult.

Accept supervision, recognizing you are an important helper. You do not take the place of a staff member. You are a supplementary person who offers assistance and enrichment with your personal skills and competence.

Respect the confidential nature of anything you hear or see at the agency/ organization in which you volunteer. Share any concerns you have only with those in authority.

Ask the person in charge what you should do in case of emergencies. Become familiar with emergency policies.

Your enthusiasm will be conveyed to the other volunteers/employees/students that you work with.

All students have the ability to learn, and all volunteers have the ability to help a child feel accepted, bring a child warmth and understanding, offer a child a listening ear, and give that youth a chance to reach above and beyond, competing only with himself/herself.

The benefits of the school volunteer program are more obvious to the student, the teacher and the school than they are to you. To the volunteer, the rewards are deeply personal and virtually impossible to measure:

The satisfaction of seeing a student come up to grade level

The satisfaction of sharing a special talent or resource

The feeling of being needed and useful

The satisfaction in helping to fill an explicit need in the school

Provide individual educational assistance to students

Enrich the curriculum

Improve students' self-worth by increasing the opportunity for educational achievement

Relieve the teacher of some non-instructional task and duties

Stimulate community interest, concern and support for the educational system

Establish a school-community partnership for quality education

Enhance all aspects of the educational process

Each school's volunteer program is individualized to meet the needs of the students and teachers at that school. In cooperation with the principal, the school's volunteer coordinator directs the volunteer program. Many schools have both a staff person and a volunteer who work jointly to coordinate the program. When volunteering at a school, you should first make an appointment with the school volunteer coordinator. She will provide an orientation to their school and help to place you in a volunteer position.

When you meet with your supervising teacher, plan to discuss:

Days and times to volunteer

Procedures to keep in touch (for example, regular meetings, telephone conversations, notes or informal meetings)

Alternate plans for days when the teacher is absent

Daily communication vehicle for volunteer assignments (folder, log, or other means)

What name you prefer the students to use in addressing you

Location and purpose of instructional materials and games

Classroom policies, procedures, and rules (such as discipline system, dress code, reinforcement techniques, organizational plans, emergency procedures, or where you should keep personal items)

Tour classroom, if necessary, to see learning centers and lab equipment

How you should notify the teacher if you must be absent

Orientation to the school, find out where you should park, which bathroom to use and the location of cold drink machine

Keep information you learn about students between yourself and your teacher. A misplaced comment can be devastating to a student, the family and the volunteer program. If you do have questions or concerns, talk with your teacher, guidance counselor or the principal.

When you are on campus, it is important that you wear your VIPS nametag for identification. It helps protect children by identifying "community helpers" who belong in the school and keeps teachers from overlooking someone who should not be there.

Each time you go to school to volunteer, you must sign in, wear your nametag and sign out. This requirement is necessary for the following reasons:

Safe guarding our students and maintaining campus security is of the utmost importance

If you receive an emergency call you can be located

While volunteering in Volusia County Schools, individuals are covered by school board insurance provided they have completed an application form and have signed in/out

The Florida Department of Education presents the Golden School Award to schools with twice as many volunteer hours as students enrolled

Your school would like the opportunity to thank you for your service

Provide a record of your volunteer time for Volusia County Honors Diploma, Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program and International Baccalaureate

Punctuality and reliability are expected since students are counting on you. If you must be absent, call the school and ask that the teacher be told you cannot come that day. Students will be disappointed, but reassured that you care enough to call.

An orientation will be held early in each semester for new and returning volunteers. At this time, volunteer opportunities will be reviewed, and school policies and procedures explained. If you are unable to attend this session, contact your guidance department and other training sessions will be scheduled for small groups. On-the-job training is provided by your supervising teacher.

Volunteers gather and set up materials for lab experiments, work with students on research projects, help students find resources and organize data into a logical sequence, and tutor students to review written work for grammatical errors. They assist art, music, and physical education teachers. Volunteers help in the media center, in the school office, or with extracurricular and PTA/PTO projects. There is a volunteer job to suit every person's background and interest!

Art Volunteer

Works with small groups on special projects

Assists in designing and building sets for school performances

Files and organizes costumes

Bicentennial Youth Park Naturalist Volunteer

Leads groups through a field-oriented program, helping students learn about nature and the environment of Florida

Classroom Volunteer

(reading, basic math, English, or social studies)

Reads to children or lets them read to you

Uses flash cards to help students learn sight words, multiplication tables, and beginning and ending word sounds

Assists younger children with learning the alphabet, colors, numbers, identifying letters, shapes, rhyming words, etc.

Supervises learning centers, games, and other areas that need an extra pair of hands

Assists students with special projects

Assists students in academic work without evaluating

Listens to oral work

Prepare bulletin boards

Clerical Volunteer

Assists the support staff in the operation of our schools as a receptionist, typist or file clerk

Sunshine Math (Superstars III) Volunteer

Explores problem-solving techniques using over 400 problems compiled by the Florida Association of Math Supervisors and the Department of Education

Monitors weekly a math enrichment program

Works with teachers who serve as a resource

Arranges time and place for the activities

Media Center Volunteer

Responds to teachers' and students' requests for services

Works at the circulation desk

Shelves and/or mends books

Operates audio/visual equipment

Assists with book fairs

Music Volunteer

Accompanies choral groups on the piano

Works with small groups on special projects

Files and organizes music and uniforms

Pioneer Art Settlement Volunteer

Conducts cultural activities on pioneer days

Study Mate Volunteer

Tutors after school

Assists with enrichment sessions for reinforcement of basic skills

Assists with homework

Tutor Volunteer

Works one-on-one or with small groups of students to reinforce basic skills

Works at any grade level and in any subject area:

Reading

Language Arts

Mathematics

Physical Education

Fine Arts

Social Studies

Natural Sciences

Health

Computer

Business Education

Offers remedial help, additional challenges to gifted students, reinforcement activities to the average student

Youth Motivator Volunteer is a friend who:

Works with "at risk" elementary/middle school students

Serves as a role model and advisor helping the students understand the need for an education to reach personal goals

Encourages classroom attendance

Be warm and friendly. Learn the children’s names. Show interest in what they are doing and telling you. You are very important as a listener.

When working with children, encourage them to do their own thinking. Give them plenty of time to answer. Silence often means they are thinking and organizing what they want to say or write.

If you don’t know an answer or are unsure of what to do, admit it to the children and work it out together. Feel free to ask the teacher of the children for help when you need it.

Use tact and positive comments. Encourage children. Seek something worthy of a compliment, especially when children are having difficulties.

Accept each child as she/he is. You do not need to feel responsible for judging a child’s abilities, progress, or behavior.

If a child is upset, encourage him/her to talk the problem over with you. You need not solve the problem, but by listening and talking you help the child feel you care.

Respect a child’s privacy. If a child or teacher reveals personal information, regard it as a confidence.

Maintain a sense of humor.

Be consistent with teacher’s rules for classroom behavior, schedule and atmosphere.

Wear comfortable clothes and don’t hesitate to "get down to a child’s level."

If parents and friends ask about your work, tell them you enjoy working with the children and discuss the activities you do rather then specific information about a child, the teacher, or the school.

Keep your commitment; the children will expect you and look forward to your coming. If you know you will be gone, tell them in advance. Keep all promises, and make none that you cannot keep. Children never forget.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Volusia County Schools

Volunteer/Partnership Programs

729 Loomis Avenue

Daytona Beach, FL 32114

(904) 255-6475, 427-5223, 734-7190 and (407) 860-3322

Ext. 2209

Fax: (904) 947-5872

 

School Board approved and adopted – January 14, 1997

Printed August 1999.