School Volunteer of the Year

Not that I'm going for that title or anything...but I will say that I get some serious satisfaction from volunteering at our kids' school.

This week, I went in on Friday for the annual Volunteer Orientation.  Everyone else there was wearing a "visitors" badge while I had a "volunteer" badge on.  I got that because I showed up a half hour early to start work on Bailey's teacher's Friday Folders.  Friday Folders include any papers/flyers/fundraisers sent to the teacher from the office along with every bit of work done during the week and last week's homework packages.  The job is simple - first alphabetize all the papers, then the folders.  Then stuff.  Each kid gets one of each paper from the office and then all of their work.  Put neatly into the kid's folder and you're done.  Simple.

And it's an hour of my day that I get to focus on a job with  a beginning and an end.  I get to start, and finish, something.  I get to organize, alphabetize and - if I'm being honest - check out my kid's handwriting/work/etc again those of her classmates.  I love the job!  LOVE IT!

But I think I'm going to give it up.  Another mom in Bailey's class showed up to the volunteer orientation.  She seemed a bit frustrated by the fact that I've been doing Friday Folders for 4 weeks now - every week of school.  I emailed Bailey's teacher the first day of school to check in about Bailey and to offer whatever help I could provide.  The early bird and all that.

She really seemed to like the idea of a small, easily-accomplished job that has such a high impact on the teacher's ability to teach.  So I'm going to give it to her and let her make it her regular thing.

In exchange, I've signed up to be a Reading Buddy.  Once a week, I'll head into the school for an hour and a half and give my time to the reading resource teacher.  I assume that I'll be reading with students or listening to them read...but who knows?  It's her time to use me as she needs and as will help her most.  I don't care what I do - the point is to be helpful.

I'm also going to let Bailey's teacher know that I am free to do whatever else she needs.  Copies?  Cut outs?  Project prep?  Whatever.

In addition, there is a series of bins that get left in the volunteer "pit".  If, say, a 4th grade teacher needs 75 copies, she can leave it there.  I'm going to try to make this work this year and provide a resource to any teacher than needs a helping hand.  Every Friday from 9:30 - 11:45, I'm free.  My reading day will be a different day.

Finally, there is Connor's class.  Working with a Pre-K classroom is different.  It requires the same style of skills that I use in my regular parenting duties.  As such, it seems like much more work to me than working solo on a basic administrative project that has a defined start and beginning.  But it's rewarding in its own way.  I'd like to set up a regular day (Jen, Jo...are you reading this??) where I go in and help with the tasks.  Reading and singing to the kids, herding them back to their seats, handing out snacks, assisting in coloring...whatever.  I'm down.

My goal is to give 3 days a week - at least 8 hours a week - to the school.  It's kind of perfect.  I would by lying if I said that there isn't a selfish element to all of this.  Working in a school (not as a teacher, but on the Admin side) is actually a perfect next paid job for me.  I network, make contacts, learn the stuff that I can be most helpful with.  This week, I made personal contact with the school vice principle and she asked me if I would be willing to help her out.  My answer was, ABSOLUTELY YES!  I want the contact.  If a secretary job opens up, I'd like for her to think of me.  Or to be pleasantly surprised when she sees my application in front of her in a couple of years.  It's all toward an end.

But also, there is a moral thing about it that really works with who I am.  I truly believe that we have to give, give, give.  Everywhere we see need, give.  Evaluate our strengths, be brave enough to step forward and say yes when the call for help comes.  It gives me immense personal satisfaction to provide real service to the people and place that is educating my children.  I am so grateful that they are doing a job that I would not be good at and would never, ever choose to do.

The other thing about that I love is that I'm working without getting paid.  I gotta say, people, that nothing fills my soul up than doing a job for free.  I know that sounds weird, but it's true.  The absolute cornerstone of everything I believe in starts with the idea that we all give what we have to give without expectation of reward or return.  If everyone did that, this world would be so amazing.  Because many people don't do this is no excuse for me not to.  In other areas of my life, I think I get taken advantage of.  But I really don't care.  I honestly don't.  I always feel like the people who take advantage of me must have real need if they can square being that type of person.  Maybe they are without morals or whatever...but I don't care.  Their motivation is not what I'm concerned with.

What I do care about is every time I walk away with a smile larger than the one I brought.  I care about the grateful, peaceful looks that I get when I complete a task that someone else was dreading or didn't have time to do.  It fills me up to be useful and to have made someone else's day better.

I'd love the recognition at the end of the year.  That stuff makes me happy too.  But if I walk away having done nothing more than make a teacher's day easier, I'm good.