The schools do a great job of celebrating the role and contribution of volunteers at an annual “Thank you”event held at the end of the school year. This is often combined with appreciation for volunteers who work in a variety of programs in the school, such as hot dog lunches, field trip chaperones and clerical work for teachers. These events are very much appreciated by the Project L.O.V.E. volunteers and they rank these social events very high on the scale of rewards they receive as volunteers.
It is our observation that the orientation sessions at the start of the year work very well and help to get everyone started off in a positive way with “everyone on the same page” so to speak. The end-of-year celebrations are also helpful in building Project L.O.V.E. into the culture of the school community. What seems to be needed are some mechanisms for school-based meetings between teachers and volunteers where they can touch base and share the positive experiences the program is providing. These need not be lengthy, overly frequent or too formal - just a chance after school to sit with coffee and talk about the children and how the sessions are going. Perhaps one could be held in early January to do a mid-year review or even one in late fall and another in early spring.
The Executive Director develops and hosts a series of workshops for volunteers usually based on topics they have suggested. These are held in key geographic centres across the province and are designed to be easily accessible to volunteers from local communities. Programs at the annual and semi-annual meetings include guest speakers and short breakout sessions on topics of interest to volunteers. Attendance at some of the sessions varies; volunteers who do attend find them helpful and interesting. Volunteers are often “looking for new ideas” or trying to pick up “some tips” to use in their sessions with children. One of the interesting things discovered during the focus groups was how much enthusiasm and enjoymentvolunteers showed when they were asked to sit down and talk about the program and their experiences with the children. This suggests that workshops and meetings should include opportunities for people to work in small groups to talk about their experiences and how they are handling them.
The orientation sessions in the fall are working well…The end of year celebrations help to build Project L.O.V.E. into the culture of the school community.