Campaign to find more Volunteers in Prince County

Project L.O.V.E. now has a few volunteers in Elm Street and Athena schools in Summerside, but we would like to have more. Schools in West Prince (Tignish, Alberton) could use more volunteers also.

We will be putting inserts in the Journal-Pioneer in January to try to interest more residents to take up the L.O.V.E. challenge.

People often volunteer when someone they know asks them - or is having a good experience being involved in the same cause.

So, if you have friends in Prince County who ask you about your experience with Project L.O.V.E., tell them what it’s all about! We would love to see more students benefiting from the help they get from older volunteers!

Connecting Communities Conference

At UPEI on February 5 there will be a conference for those who work to help children. Registration is at 9:30, in the Classroom Centre, just off the parking lot north of the Atlantic Veterinarian College.

Sessions are planned on literacy, storytelling, making good choices of books for boys, learning disabilities, helping with homework and other topics.

Registration for the conference is free, and lunch will be provided. You must pre-register by telephone to 675-3614 or by e-mail to sfl@upei.ca

The workshop is organized by Frontier College, with financial support from the Great West Life Assurance Company.

You Have What?

A volunteer noted that her young student seemed to be having a hard time climbing the stairs.

“Is there something wrong?” she inquired.

“Yes,” he replied.

“What is it?” she asked.

“I have a broken spleen,” he replied seriously.

“A broken spleen! Have you been to the doctor?” the volunteer asked.

“No, I don’t have to go to the doctor,” he said. “My mom is a nurse.”

What Benefits are We Providing?

Principal Paul Sullivan of Dundas Consolidated School responded to this question.

“We have a large proportion of high-needs students, even though our school is small," he said. “We have resource teachers, Reading Recovery teachers, tutors, and Teacher Assistants, and still there are some students who don’t get help. This is where our LO.V.E. volunteers come in. They fill that gap.”

Dundas has nine volunteers this year, a very enthusiastic mix of new and returning volunteers. They all visit the school on the same day - Wednesday - and so have a chance to see each other, and chat about the work they do.

Yet, one volunteer expressed concern that, in a classroom of 20 students, there were four adults in the classroom, and then the two L.O.V.E. volunteers arrived to take their students out for some one-to-one time.

“I really wonder if, with so many people helping, are we really needed?” she said.

According to Mr. Sullivan, we really are needed. “I teach a grade 7-8 class, and some of them have gone out with the Project L.O.V.E. volunteers,” he said. “I can really see a difference (in their confidence) when they are called upon in class.”

Another volunteer noted that the students in the grade two class are really showing progress in their reading since the beginning of the school year. “Some of them weren’t reading at all at the beginning,” she said. “Now they are very comfortable and read quite well.”

Another thing this volunteer appreciates is the opportunity to take children who already read well. “We get a chance to talk together and I hear some great stories,” she said.

So, while we are waiting for the UPEI study of Project L.O.V.E. to be completed, we have this endorsement of the program. We are needed. There are never enough hands - and ears - to do all the working and listening that needs to be done!