What to consider when starting a volunteering program

What kind of program would you like to have, formal or informal?
When starting out, decide how big your program is going to be: Do you want to be the volunteer coordinator in your school and develop a structured, official program, or do you simply want to be the teacher that helps kids get started on their own?

Another possibility is to create a formal program for your own class that involves a certain number of hours of community service related to an issue they are studying. For example, perhaps your students feel strongly about child labor and would like to do a one-time community service project about it.

On the less formal side, you might simply offer to help your student find the right individual experience when they express an interest in volunteering.

How old are the volunteers?
Students of any age can volunteer. It may be more challenging to find appropriate activities for younger kids, depending on their abilities, but it is not impossible. First- and second-graders can make sandwiches for the homeless, spend time playing with animals in a shelter, or volunteer along with their parents, for example. As kids get older, there are fewer limits to the types of volunteering they can do.

How many students are volunteering? A class? An individual? A small group of students?
Matching individual students with volunteering opportunities will give you much more flexibility because you can place them according to their personal interests. However, this can be time-consuming. More importantly, kids who have never volunteered before may be hesitant to do so alone and a group of students volunteering together can foster a sense of teamwork.

What are the interests of your students?
Are your kids volunteering to address a certain topic being taught in class? Are some of your students interested in rainforests whereas others want to promote women's rights? It always helps to find out what kinds of issues appeal to your students before matching them with avolunteer opportunity.

If they are unsure about what they would like to do, you can help them with questions such as: "Would you like to work with kids? Would you like to work inside or outside? Are you comfortable speaking to groups? Would you like to do research or more hands-on work?" The more information you can draw out and the more interested they are in the volunteer work, the more likely the experience will be of value to them and to the organizations they assist.

In order to give your students more information about the kinds of opportunities available to them, you may want to call local organizations and invite them to speak to your class about their work and the volunteer opportunities they offer. You can also find out if a local college or university is holding a volunteer fair that your students could attend.

For how long will they volunteer? A semester? A day? Is there a community service hour requirement per year?
Day-long volunteer opportunities, such as staffing tables at a walk for diabetes or spending the day working in a soup kitchen, can give students a chance to try out volunteering. Semester-long activities can allow students to develop relationships with the people or organizations with whom they work.

The nuts and bolts: policies, forms, and log sheets

These policy questions will vary from school to school and class to class, but are definitely worth keeping in mind:

Do you need parental permission for children to participate in a school volunteering project?

Who needs to know about the initiative? The principal? The superintendent?

Would you like the students to pledge their commitment to the program with some sort of written agreement? What about a written agreement from the host organization?

How will you keep track of the time spent volunteering, if that is necessary?

Are you able to visit each organization where the students will be volunteering?

How will you evaluate the safety and appropriateness of each volunteer opportunity?

Would you like each volunteer to give a presentation at the end of the year to their classmates or parents? To next year's potential volunteers?

Classroom reflection after volunteer work

Incorporating time for reflection into any volunteer project goes a long way towards ensuring that your students get the most out of their experience. This can mean many different things. Students can write a short journal entry about what they did, thought, and saw during the day; draw a picture or write a poem that represents their experience; talk in a small group about the project; or give a presentation to parents or other students.

The basic goal of any reflection activity is to give students an opportunity to place their volunteer experience in a larger social context. For example, students who volunteer at a soup kitchen should be encouraged to consider why soup kitchens exist.

Below are some examples of reflection activities and relevant classes that you can incorporate into your program.

Florida International University's College of Urban and Public Affairs "Social Change & Contemporary Social Issues"
As a university class, this syllabus may be too advanced but the concepts and ideas presented can be adapted to suit younger students.

Montgomery County Public Schools Reflection Statement
The students who take part in the volunteering program in Montgomery County Public Schools must reflect on their work as part of the learning process. See the "Verification Form," in which the students ask themselves questions like, "How did your activity benefit the community that you served?" and "Why was this a service to the community?"

Finding funding for the integration of service

Once you have decided to incorporate some type of community service or service learning into your academic program you might find that you need some financial support for supplies, transportation, and other related costs. Certain states provide grants for education. If your school or department of education cannot help, there are organizations that can assist you in your search for funding.

Constitutional Rights Foundation "Service-Learning Network"
his issue of the "Service-Learning Network" put out by the Constitutional Rights Foundation addresses the issues accompanying funding for educators interested in implementing service projects. They offer advice about grant writing and tips about fundraising. They also list some organizations that may be able to help financially. Also see the CRF's Maurice R. Robinson Mini-Grants.

Community Foundation Locator
Community foundations are public charities in the United States that aid people who are interested in working to help their community. Use this online locator to find your local community foundation.

The Foundation Center
The Foundation Center can provide help with the entire grant seeking process. Check out their website for more information on finding financial support for your classroom activities. If you live in the United States you can also visit one of their "Cooperating Collections" funding information centers in a library near you. To find your nearest center click here.

Why other schools are involved in volunteering

Some schools believe that giving back to the community is so important that they have incorporated formal philosophies of volunteering and service into their overall educational outlooks. Here are some examples:

The Dalton School, New York, NY

The Ethical Culture Fieldston School, New York, NY

California State University, Fresno, CA

Phillips Academy, Andover, MA

Community service examples

Examples by topic

Examples from schools

Examples from Idealist

Examples by topic

• The environment: Start a battery recycling campaign in the school, clean up your local park, or help a nonprofit organization with endangered species research.
• The arts: Teach art, dance, or music to kids in an after-school program.
• Human rights: Join a campaign for human rights, help out with clerical work at a nonprofit human rights organization, or be a friend to a recently resettled refugee.
• Women's issues: Be a peer educator or mentor a young girl.
• Poverty and homelessness: Volunteer at a soup kitchen or hold a clothes drive in your school for a local shelter.
• Working with other kids: Tutor or visit children in the hospital.

Examples from schools

The Menlo School, Atherton, CA
This school's mission statement stresses a commitment to helping students develop "the skills necessary to respond humanely to the complexities of a diverse world." These students have run a blood drive, worked with local food shelters, and volunteered with the Special Olympics. Read more about the community service projects done by students of the upper and lower school.

Germantown Academy, Fort Washington, PA
Are you interested in what students think about community service? Read about the work the students at Germantown Academy did with nonprofit organizations and get an idea of what these projects are like from the students themselves. A few student reports are posted on the site, see the "In the News" section.

Earth Force
Through Earth Force, youth discover and implement lasting solutions to environmental issues in their communities. Educators turn to Earth Force for innovative tools to engage young people in community problem solving. With Earth Force one school developed a program to help protect burrowing owls and another class became water-quality watchdogs in their neighborhood. Check out the site for more examples.
 

Examples from Idealist

The American Red Cross, St Paul, MN
With this branch of the Red Cross kids can knit items like hats, sweaters and blankets for people facing crisis situations. Students can help someone in need while creating a sense of teamwork and community in the classroom.

Wildlife Friends of Thailand, Petchaburi, Thailand
This organization needs of volunteers to help them take care of monkeys, gibbons, bears and other wild animals at their sanctuary in Kao lookchang, nera Cha-am and Hua-hin, Thailand. Students interested in animals might like to volunteer at an animal shelter like this one.

Redbridge Community Development Agency, London, United Kingdom
The agency publishes a quarterly newsletter (8-12 pages) and an annual magazine (32-36 pages). Volunteers are needed to put together articles for both. Kids interested in writing and editing would be perfect for this job.