Volunteers can add that extra ingredient to spice up a partnership program while positively impacting student achievement. In order to ensure that volunteer programs have desired effects, schools often need guidance and support. Districts are in a unique position to provide leadership to facilitate excellent volunteer programs.
The leaders of Anoka-Hennepin Independent School District 11 in Minnesota have made family and community involvement a district priority with the support of Superintendent Roger Giroux. The Parent Involvement Team includes Parent Involvement Coordinator Linda Rogers, Volunteer Services Supervisor Sue Archbold, and their staff.
One successful practice in this district, the Kindergarten Data Collection by Volunteers Project, trained parents and others from the community to record the reading levels of 2,800 kindergarteners. This activity provided important data on students' phonemic awareness and letter identification and saved teachers valuable class time. A graduate student from the University of Minnesota aided the project, providing objective analysis and quality control.
In another reading-related activity, Volunteer Services is training volunteers to facilitate Literature Circles (book clubs) to increase students' critical thinking skills.
Anoka-Hennepin offers a wide variety of volunteer opportunities for parents, grandparents, and members of the community, knowing that volunteers are an important asset to the school district. For the 2004-05 school year, parents and community members contributed over 177,245 volunteer hours in 43 schools. According to Independent Sector's value of volunteer hours in 2005, Anoka-Hennepin's volunteers contributed over $3 million to the schools and district.
The Anoka-Hennepin parent involvement website supplies resources for volunteers and other information on developing a good partnership program. The district leaders developed a volunteer handbook to provide volunteers with general guidelines and procedures. Visit http://www.anoka.k12.mn.us/volunteeropportunities and click on "District Volunteer Handbook" to view it.
Many districts and schools throughout NNPS are designing and implementing excellent volunteer programs and realizing the benefits of these services. The dual focus of district leadership and facilitation can make volunteer programs linked to student success a well-established school improvement strategy. Assistant to the Superintendent Dennis Carlson describes the volunteer program as "a wonderful example of community partnership!" He noted that, "Anoka-Hennepin adults volunteer in public education out of their own graciousness to support their children and their neighbors' children. Every school opens its doors to this resource through the Volunteer Services program." This commitment and focus is one of many actions that made Anoka-Hennepin a 2005 Partnership District Award winner with special recognition for exceptional quality and sustained progress.