La Grande Pride
www.lagrandesd.org • August 2022
VOLUNTEER AT SCHOOL
Engaging Families at School
By Trish Yerges
In the past two years, the pan-
demic created obstacles to school
volunteerism, but now that many
of those constraints are lifted, the
district is free again to actively
pursue its goal of increasing fam-
ily engagement in schools. In this
process, the district will be looking
for more engagement opportuni-
ties across all demographics in our
school district.
The district administrators
recognize that the past two years
have been very hard on families as
far as being connected with their
child’s school because of State
mandates and different rules at
different times.
“To combat that this year,
we’re really going out of our way
to engage families as much as we
can so that they can have a posi-
tive experience and feel connected
with schools,” Carpenter said. “We
are also going to be looking for
ways to engage them and help to
provide them with different oppor-
tunities to volunteer and be part
of our school to support kids.”
Among the school opportunities
to think about now are elemen-
tary school engagement, such as
supporting intervention groups
and/or different classrooms. If you
visit with the teachers there, they
are interested in having a par-
ent come in and provide support
to that classroom. Others may
need parents to come in as a lunch
buddy and be a positive contact for
a student, helping students with
social skills or just be there as a
mentor or grandma or grandpa.
“With athletics, we’re always
looking for help to work a ticket
booth or help with fundraising
to meet the needs of those ath-
letes,” he said. “People can also
meet with building principals, if
there’s a specific school they want
to volunteer at, and talk about
what kind of volunteer work they
would like to do and how that
would fit into that school’s pro-
gram.”
If a person wishes to volun-
teer on committees, there are
the local school parent-teacher
organizations, which are pretty
strong at the elementary schools
and La Grande Middle School.
That’s a leadership group that
tries to support students and help
allocate some funds for special
projects identified by the school
and parents.
“There are also some district-
level committees that adults can
participate in, such as our adop-
tion committee or student health
advisory council,” Carpenter
suggested.
Volunteers are not required
to have a special educational
background to qualify for vol-
unteerism at school, but they
will go through the customary
background check and finger-
printing requirements. There are
vaccination requirements for all
adults interacting with kids, but
there is also an opt-out form for
that. There is currently no mask
requirement.
If you’re interested in volun-
teering, please call the school’s
principal or Scott Carpenter at
541-975-3210. Staying connected
with the district schools can be
rewarding and purposeful for the
volunteer and a positive support
to the students.
3