Volunteers in Education

Volunteer Roles

Volunteer tasks will vary depending on the needs of the particular school. However, the following examples are typical areas where volunteer help is often needed.

Examples of volunteer activity:

• General Classroom Assistance: Volunteers are assigned to a specific teacher and carry out various tasks depending on a teacher's needs (assisting with learning activities, oral reading, creating displays, helping young children with their clothing, playground supervision, etc.)
• Electives/Enrichment: There are times during the school year when a block of time is set aside for students to choose an elective that interests them or during the winter months a school identifies periodic noon hours for group activities. Volunteers introduce and demonstrate their skills in Art, Drama, Music, Crafts, Computers, Business and other areas, so that students can experience "hands-on" learning.
• Coaching Team Sports: Many school teams need help in activities such as coaching, training and managing.
• Remedial Education: Students with learning problems require extra help and attention either individually or in small groups. Volunteers are needed in this area to assist in the acquisition of basic reading, language and math skills.
• Special Education: Designated classes for developmentally challenged students are located in many schools or identified students are integrated into regular classrooms. Volunteers can extend the staff's role by working with these students, either one-on-one or within the class as a whole.
• Tutoring: Volunteers work with students individually or in small groups to assist in key subject areas such as language and math.
• Mentoring: Volunteers work directly on a one-on-one basis with a student to provide friendly support, increase motivation, encourage attendance and help prevent "drop-out". Mentoring relationships often develop through various volunteer roles.
• Languages: Volunteers fluent in French are constantly being sought for French language programs and for expanding French Immersion programs. Volunteers with fluency in other languages also assist as community interpreters and in "English as a Second Language" (ESL) programs.
• Early Literacy Intervention Programs: Some school Boards have identified literacy needs within their primary grades population and encourage volunteers to assist staff in reading to and listening to children read, assist students in basic reading readiness exercises, and nurture a love of reading.
• Library Assistance: A busy library needs volunteers to assist students to locate materials, prepare library cards, repair books, help with circulation tasks and re-shelve books.
• Office Assistance: School offices frequently need help in the form of general clerical assistance, filing, copying, telephoning, etc.