Volunteering in Schools

courtesy of the HandsOn Network Blog

A quality volunteer experience provides positive benefits for all parties: the students, the school, and the volunteer. Before you start planning your volunteer role, take a closer look at some benefits of volunteering.

Benefits for Students

Students benefit from volunteers in many ways. Volunteers can serve as an important adult connection for students, particularly those who lack a parent or guardian who is active in their education. Students who have adult involvement in their schooling generally have better grades, better attendance, and higher graduation rates. Increased adult involvement also causes students to have more positive attitudes, more motivation, and higher self-esteem.

Volunteers may also help students by serving as a link between a school and a community. Students do better when schools, families, and communities work together, and involvement is strong. Volunteers can also help to promote a positive image of the school within the community.

Benefits for Schools

Committed adults are an invaluable resource to schools. The benefits to schools include:

• Increased individual attention for students
• Extra support on projects
• Stronger ties to the community
• Higher levels of parent-teacher communication
• Increased capacity to better serve a wider variety of youth needs
• Higher test/grade scores
• Strengthened programs
• Improved student behavior

Benefits for Volunteers

Volunteers can gain from their experience in various ways. Whether they are parents or other community volunteers, most people benefit from building closer relationships with children and administration at their local school. Here are other potential rewards for volunteering:

• Opportunity to meet new people
• Improved communication, management, and interpersonal skills
• Improved problem-solving skills
• Increased self-confidence
• Clearer understanding of school structure and curriculum
• Valuable job experience
• Opportunity to serve as a role model for students
• The chance to inspire, educate, and motivate future generations

Parents who are active in their school reap benefits at home. Parent/guardian volunteers form tighter bonds with their children and often find themselves having better communication at home. In addition, parent/guardian volunteers aid their child’s transition of culture at home to culture at school. By assisting in this transition, parents learn the structure and expectations of schools.