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Public Relations > Volunteerism - "Hands Across the District"
News:
Volunteerism is the Souderton Area School District is not a new concept. The school district is calling upon the entire community to become part of a formal school volunteer program, Hands Across the District, which brings persons of all ages into our schools. The program is in place in grades K-12. From the parent of a pre-schooler, who assists a teacher with work done at her home to a senior citizen one on one, the Indian Valley community has a wealth of talent to offer our students.
The Hands Across the District volunteer program was piloted at Lower Salford Elementary School in January of 1992. The program laid the groundwork for the district-wide Hands Across the District program that began in all elementary schools in September of 1992. In September of 1993, the program was expanded into Indian Crest and Indian Valley Middle Schools. The program was expanded to the high school in the 2004-2005 school year. Now all elementary and secondary schools have volunteer coordinators to coordinate the program at the schools and to recruit volunteers.
The ultimate purpose of the Hands program is to enhance instruction and the school climate. A great deal of care is taken to match the volunteer with the job to which he or she is best suited. Volunteers at elementary schools can help in a variety of capacities: classroom, library, office, tutoring, computer assistance, publishing center, classroom speakers, art and music, and special events volunteers to name a few.
The advantage of the Hands program is that this in as all-encompassing volunteer program for all staff: teaching, secretarial, custodial, and nursing. All volunteers fill out an application form and volunteer talent is appropriately matched with volunteer requests, which come from the staff. The program, through the application process, allows the coordinators to make lists of people/skills available. These talents may prompt a teacher/staff member to think of new ways to use volunteers.
The coordinator also provides orientation for the volunteers and organizes the tuberculin test required for every volunteer.
Hands offers schools an organized volunteer program that keeps track of the amount of volunteerism in a school as volunteers log their hours for each visit. The logging of hours helps the coordinator plan for recognition of volunteers and keeps a record of who is in the schools and when they are in the schools.
Since Hands is a district-wide program, a volunteer network can be established as school coordinators share ideas on ways to use volunteers and to run the volunteer program. Questions at the building level should be directed to your Hands coordinator, while district-wide questions about the Hands program should be directed to the Coordinator of Community Relations, Karen Giannini, via e-mail at kgiannini@soudertonsd.org or telephone at 215-723-6061 Ext. 281.
Building Coordinators for 2006-2007:
- E.M.C. Elementary School - Kelly Crouthamel, Theresa Straub
- Franconia Elementary School - Donna Millner, Jayne Sommers
- Lower Salford Elementary School - Alicia Crossgrove, Kristin Ruff
- Oak Ridge Elementary School - Michelle Hendricks, Patty Schembri
- Salford Hills Elementary School - Jean Shelly, Rachel Sowers
- Vernfield Elementary School - Heather Gray, Donna Tomasevich
- West Broad Street Elementary School - Gwen Diamond, Patricia Lembo, Paula Strelecki
- Indian Valley Middle School - Sherry Harris, Karen Coutts
- Indian Crest Junior High School - Tracy Cole, Donna Frueh
- Souderton Area High School - LouAnn Pullen, Mig Robertson, Judi Whitmire
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