This month, District 300 is honoring the volunteers and partners that make D300 schools such a nurturing, positive place. While their resources and skills vary, they all share a genuine joy in seeing students thrive and a deeply held belief in the power of public education to lift up a community. If you also share this belief, please call your nearest school to see how you can help our communities to succeed.
The following article provides just a FEW examples of the countless community members, organizations, and businesses that regularly give their time and resources to help our schools thrive. Please visit the photo slideshow at www.d300.org to see these and many more volunteers at work throughout D300! Also, look for the special tribute in D300's February LEADER.
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REWARDING WORK
Jackie Wolf answers the office phone with all the confidence and pep of a veteran school secretary. She is a veteran alright, but not an employee.
"Good morning. Liberty Elementary. This is Jackie. How can I help you?"
Wolf has been volunteering in D300 schools for 11 years. She continues to pitch in at Liberty every week wherever she is needed, even though her children have moved on to middle and high school - where she also helps out. She files. Greets visitors and students. Pitches in with picture day. Runs errands to the classrooms.
"The elementary kids are so sweet and cute," Wolf said. "I see how busy they are in here, and I feel good if I can take some of the burden off."
She gets along so well with Principal Kristin Corriveau and staff that they have dubbed her "Twinkles," an ode to the Liberty Star mascot. Another nickname is Princess Jackie, which comes with its requisite crowns and costumes.
But beyond all of smiles and fun there has been a serious life lesson.
"Every parent should volunteer in a school office at least once in their life," Wolf said. "They'd really learn a lot, and they'd respect the staff and the school even more."
Whether in the office, classroom or the athletic field, volunteers are a vital part of our schools. Jacobs High School Assistant Principal Francesca DiMaggio commended all of the Jacobs parents who generously give their time and resources to boost the school. An excellent example has been Dave Cook, who found a creative way to demonstrate his belief in Jacobs' athletics and activities.
"Mr. Cook's photographs of our winter athletes helped to showcase how our athletes excel in the game," DiMaggio said.
The work of D300 volunteers is important and their impact immeasurable. But make no mistake, there is as much work as reward. Just ask Laura Factly, who volunteers in the Golfview Elementary library and computer lab up to three days a week - even though she does not have children at Golfview.
"It makes me happy to make the kids happy," Factly said recently while re-shelving books. "That's why I'm here."
APPRECIATED BY ADMINISTRATORS, TEACHERS AND STUDENTS ALIKE
Sometimes the volunteers are students themselves. In the past, up to 15 band students at Carpentersville Middle School chose to stay after school every night looking for extra help. The school's only band teacher, Michael Kasper, was spread too thin to effectively assist all of them nightly. Eventually, Kasper enlisted the help of Dundee-Crown High School band director John Gorman and DCHS band students. To this day, they give free, private lessons after school to any CMS student who is interested.
"These tutoring lessons have improved the musicality of CMS Students and have created exciting new connections between CMS and DCHS students," said CMS Principal Dr. Stephanie Ramstad.
When you look up the words "volunteer" and "mentor" in the dictionary, you might find a photograph of Larry Zea, according to Parkview Elementary Principal Ellen Bruning. In summer 2005, Zea stopped in at the school offering to help with the Parkview Veteran's Day Celebration, still several weeks away. This began a strong and lasting partnership.
Principal Bruning is thrilled that Zea still comes by every Friday to work with Parkview students. But she is not the only one who looks forward to his visits. Fourth graders Kimberly Rico and Tarrah Kamp are among his biggest fans. Kimberly called him "a pocketful of sunshine."
"When I am having a bad day and Mr. Zea walks in the door," Tarrah said, "he makes my day a good day."
As much as Parkview loves Zea, Lake in the Hills (LITH) Elementary loves its dedicated supporters. Among the most dedicated has been Melissa Goll. She has three children at the school and used to lead the LITH Parent-Teacher Council (PTC). When asked how often she helps out, Goll grinned and said, "I come when I can."
"Correction: You come whenever we call you," chimed in Principal Tammy Poole. "You're so helpful. You always say 'yes.' "
"Well, I'd rather be here helping other kids, and it helps my kids too," Goll responded. "They so look forward to my being here. I love it."
Goll was one of several LITH parents who recently turned out for the school's monthly "Spot Store," where students can trade in the leopard-spot vouchers that they earned through excellent behavior for special rewards of their choosing. This is part of the school's PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions & Supports) initiative, which Principal Poole credited for the school's behavioral turn-around over the past few years.
"Our Parent-Teacher Council believes so much in the power of PBIS that they gave $3,000 for the prizes and supplies," Poole said. "More parents volunteer to work our PBIS store than we even need. They're incredibly supportive."
The "Spot Store" smelled of fresh popcorn pouring out of a popcorn machine donated this year by the PTC. One by one, classes filed in with students full of anticipation to claim the food and goodies they had earned. Lines of tables were filled with such rewards. The first stop was at parent Charley McLenna's table, replete with colorful erasers and pencils. McLenna is a certified teacher who substitutes often in D300. He volunteers at LITH Elementary almost every day he is not working, in part because he loves watching the students grow and continually improve, he said.
"My own kids were getting tired of my stories," he said. "So I thought I'd come tell other kids my stories."
IT TAKES A VILLAGE
Beyond parental and peer support, D300 schools enjoy a good amount of community support. Businesses large and small have made generous donations, such as Chipotle gift-cards for Jacobs seniors, Houlihan's gourmet sandwiches and Taylor Street Pizza at D300 Relay For Life, and Best Buy rewards for Sleepy Hollow and Dundee Highlands students with perfect attendance. More than $140,000 in private donations were secured for the new Dundee-Crown electrics lab, and Horace Mann Insurance gave a total of 20 bikes to outstanding students at 10 schools in D300.
Westfield Community School formed a partnership with the Algonquin/LITH Rotary Club to provide a pancake breakfast with Santa this year for D300 students and their families from Algonquin, LITH, and Carpentersville. Around 1,000 individuals participated in the special event. Activities included a free breakfast, holiday music, pictures with Santa, and games and crafts provided by the Jacobs Interact Club.
"Service is the heart of Rotary," Rotarian Don Brewer said. "It is incumbent upon community groups to partner with schools to establish a strong community presence and comprehensive educational network."
Gilberts Elementary Principal Jeff King echoed that sentiment when heaping praise onto his school's community partners. In November, staff from the Rutland-Dundee Fire Protection District visited Gilberts classrooms to teach fire safety. They worked with students to create fire evacuation plans and they distributed informational packets about fire safety. The materials were generously funded by Benchmark Sales and Service, Oak Hill Gardens, Vidal Landscaping, Gilberts Animal Clinic, Gilberts Mobil, and Irv Auto Body.
"The support of our community contributes to the superior learning environment of our school," King said. "We are also very thankful for our abundance of parents who assist us daily by volunteering in the classroom."
HELP FOR THE HOMELESS
This year due to the national and local recession, there are more homeless students in D300 than ever before - over 150 children. The more the community became aware of this tragic fact, the more donations grew to give these unfortunate children a little relief.
When school kicked off, the staff and faculty of Argosy University in Schaumburg collected several boxes of donated school supplies for D300 children, as did the Center for Chiropractic Medicine (West Dundee) and the local Lutheran Women Missionary League. In the fall, D300 staff donated thousands of dollars to the local Salvation Army to help D300 homeless families.
As temperatures dropped, volunteers with the Sun City Sew n' Sews of Huntley and the Park Place Senior Center of Arlington Heights knitted dozens of beautiful gloves, scarves and hats for underprivileged D300 children, as they have in past years. These homespun gifts gave our students "warm fuzzy feelings" as well as practical comfort against the harsh weather.
Barbara Kelley, the Director of D300 Pupil Personnel Services, serves as the District's homeless liaison with the assistance of the dedicated Patty Briones. She said the spirit of the season spurred additional help from those who wanted to ensure our neediest students enjoyed the holidays. The Carpentersville Fire Department collected gifts and brought in Santa on a classic red fire truck to the delight of the children. Dr. Kelley gave special praise to all of the kind-hearted donors.
"The amount of donations that came through our office weekly this holiday season was commendable," she said. "Patty and I used the financial donations to shop during the winter break for warm clothing, coats, and mittens for the homeless children."
She was not the only one appreciative of the support. A sixth grade homeless girl from Lakewood School wrote a thank you letter to the donors who had ensured her downtrodden family was uplifted.
"Without them, we would have never had a beautiful Christmas like we did," the student wrote. "(Those) that helped me are God sent. You really do care about your children that go to District 300. God bless you all."