Sounds good! I was thinking of putting a "Get to your Staff" and "Get to know a Parent" section in our newsletter. Picture and short bio of each. I'm thinking if parents hear how other parents are helping it might inspire!
We also have a volunteer log in the office. It is separate from the sign in sheet for people who are just visiting. The volunteer writes their name, the time they came in, the time they leave, and the classroom or activity at which they are ehlping. For the sake of the person who has to add all the hours up(this year that's me), I'm going to change the log to have the person write the amount of time they spent helping.
I came up with a way to celebrate our volunteers that I hope will work too. Any tips would be great! I want to have a bulletin board in a highly visible area and each week have a VIP of the week. I thought we could draw names from all the folks who have volunteered for any event. I'll start off the year with putting in the names of the people who helped with the playground this summer and all the committee and board members. I want to put their picture and a short bio of the person. I'm hoping this will be a way to show appreciation for all volunteers, no matter how much time they put in. Plus the kids and teachers will get to know these great people who work so hard for them and the other parents can see how easy it can be to give a little of your time. What do you think? Now I just have to find some sort of prize to give the winner.
2boysmom, sounds great. Can I get a copy of your volunteer log file? Thanks This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
We kept one in our school where parents sign in daily as they do volunteer work. From here you get parent volunteer of the month they are treated for (2) free lunch passes and picture with their children on the PTO Board. You can only get parent of the month once. These logs are turned into the parent liason for the district and they use for their needs as well.
It can be useful to compare volunteers hours in the past to see how much volunteer time has increased or decreased. If anyone wants a copy let me know. It's in excel so you can change it to fit your school needs.
Sorry it's taken me so long to get back ... CRAZY summer so far.
The person who has the most volunteer hours each month ( or if it's the same person month after month we award it to the next person with the most hours ) we give them a school tee shirt or a mug with a little "survival" kit.
VOLUNTEERS SURVIVAL KIT "
TOOTHPICK so you won't be too picky
LOLLIPOP to help you lick your problems (or lick your wounds)
RUBBER BAND to help you be flexible
PAPER CLIP so you can hold it all together
STRING so you can tie up loose ends
PIN to help you pinpoint the real problems
PENNY to remind you that you are a valuable asset.
We are also getting a sign in front of the school that we will post there names on. We try to make it as fair as possiable so that they don't think the same person keeps getting the award.
