I Volunteer. We Volunteer. Powerful words that encompass the tremendous range and diversity of how and why people give of themselves daily to charitable organizations such as Laubach Literacy. Through volunteering we connect to each other and to what matters in life. The International Year of Volunteers offers us an unprecedented opportunity to think about how volunteers enable Laubach to make a difference in the lives of so many. Who are Laubach's volunteers? Why do they donate their time and resources to help achieve the Each-One-Teach-One mission? How can Laubach's volunteer programming be improved? International Year of Volunteers challenges us to expand the definition of voluntarism in our organization and to promote volunteering for "all". Will we accept that challenge or will we be satisfied with the status quo, a system which may in fact discourage and disempower current and potential clients and volunteers?

While Laubach Literacy has previously recognized the benefits of active student involvement in several specific areas of the organization, student voluntarism is still relatively rare. While student volunteers bring some unique challenges to the organization, they also bring the benefits of highly creative and innovative problem-solving, the opportunity to learn new ways of working and the potential to significantly improve our service delivery.

Embracing the concept of student voluntarism requires the commitment of leaders at every level of the organization as changes and accommodations will be necessary along the way to overcome potential obstacles and ensure satisfying and fulfilling experiences for student volunteers. A number of strategies may be considered to ease the transition path and facilitate the successful integration of student voluntarism within the Laubach organization:

• Create an environment where learning is fun; people feel free to ask questions and take calculated risks. Facilitating ongoing training in areas such as leadership skills, meeting skills, parliamentary procedure, team-building, communication skills, board orientation and effective decision-making allows students to view learning as a natural, life-long process.

• Assign mentors or coaches to all new volunteers to help initiate them to the organization, answer questions and prepare them for their voluntary positions.

• Introduce potential student volunteers to the organization by inviting them to attend occasional activities, events or meetings. This will give them a much better idea of what is involved in accepting a voluntary position and will lessen the sense of confusion and intimidation often experienced by new student recruits.

• Conduct regular ice breakers and team- building exercises to help group members get to know each other; discover shared and diverse background experiences; discuss the importance of different skills/talents in the organization. n

• Create opportunities to get to know each other in non-meeting environments. An outdoor retreat may help student leaders.

• Build on an existing infrastructure. Encourage students to take written material such as meeting agendas, minutes and important correspondence to weekly lessons with their tutor.

• Establish realistic time frames and goals for student volunteers. Start small, provide the necessary support to successfully accomplish each assignment, and build on successes.

• Clearly communicate group expectations, policy and procedures as well as unwritten organizational norms. Respect should be intrinsic to the process and a two-way street.

• Produce a plain language resource guide for low-level readers covering important issues on meeting and leadership skills as well as pertinent information on committee mandates and job descriptions.

• Acknowledge disparity in education and skills and display flexibility in modes of communication. 75% of oral communication is ignored, misunderstood, and quickly forgotten which puts student volunteers at a distinct disadvantage if they are not able to rely on written information.

• Employ "active" listening skills in individual and group discussion. A conscious effort should be made to effectively use questions and interventions to encourage student volunteers to clarify and explore their thoughts and feelings.

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