January 2015 Volunteer Spotlight —Andrea Clark

Check out our first Volunteer Spotlight of the New Year!

What volunteer opportunities do you do?

I am the Lunch Room Chairperson for the PTO. I coordinate volunteers to help with Lunch Room, so I mostly volunteer there but have also helped read with students.

What motivates you to volunteer in the school?

Volunteering allows me to witness how the school works and I have gotten to meet some new people. I love being able to interact with my child and see her friends that she hangs out with. Volunteering has allowed me to get to know my child's teacher better, which has been such a blessing! I enjoy being able to help and I am glad to be involved in my child's education.

Tell about an experience you had while volunteering that made you realize you were making a difference.

There have been many rewarding moments for me while volunteering in the school. I have had many teachers thank me for my help. The experience that sticks out the most to me is when I had a teacher that I did not know, come up to me and tell me that she really appreciated my time and help in the Lunch Room. By helping in the cafeteria, we were giving her time to just sit with her students and be able to talk to them on a personal level about their lives outside of school. Every one of her students also came up to say thank you before leaving for recess. This made me realize that lunch time is the only time of day that allows teachers to have a small break and get that personal time with their students. The students love that time with their teachers too!

Have you seen an impact on your child(ren) because you volunteer in the school?

My daughter loves to see me at school! She looks forward to the days that I am there and get to talk to her and hear how her day is going. She also loves getting to eat lunch with her younger siblings on the days I volunteer in the Lunch Room. My two younger children love coming to the school and helping in the Lunch Room, they even want to help wipe tables with me!

What would you tell someone that is thinking of volunteering in the school?

I would tell you that being a hands-on part of your child's education is very rewarding. For me, it is so simple to give a little of my time to the place where for nine months, my child spends the majority of her time. Where a whole army of people are teaching, caring for and molding my child for seven hours a day, five days a week into what she will become. So for me, volunteering in the school benefits not only my child, but the teachers and staff, as well as myself.