VOLUNTEERS

add sunshine to the lives they touch!!

Thanks so much for all of the ongoing work in classrooms, chaperoning of field trips and the wonderful help with MCA Testing - we couldn't have done it all without your help!

Thanks for all you’ve done for CRMS as a volunteer in 2012-13!! Each of you has your own personal preferences and talents and a unique schedule of availability, yet together almost 2,000 hours of time was given by volunteers to help make many facets of the 2012-13 school year go more smoothly for CRMS.  It is an amazing process and every hour is very much appreciated!!!  You help make our volunteer program here at CRMS an exceptional one!!

THANK YOU!  THANK YOU!  THANK YOU!

THANKS VOLUNTEERS!!

ABC Newspapers
4101 Coon Rapids Blvd
Coon Rapids, MN 55433

To the editor:

Once again Minnesota and National Volunteer Recognition Week (April 10-16) is here.  It’s an important time for us to say thank you publically for the priceless work that is given by all volunteers. Our thanks also go out to their families and businesses who support their efforts.

Volunteerism in our schools remains consistent even when many families continue to experience hardships due to our troubled economy.  Volunteer assistance in classrooms, workrooms, and athletic fields remain strong. Volunteers continue to chaperone fieldtrips, sporting events, and proms.  They continue to help students learn English as a Second Language (ESL), collect data from kindergarten students on their pre-reading skills, shelve books in the Media Centers, monitor hallways during MCA testing, and complete a marathon of clerical work.

The range of opportunities available to students expands because of dedicated, trained volunteers who teach Challenge Reading, Picture Presenters, Challenge Math and other enrichment programs. Extracurricular academic activities such as Destination Imagination, First Robotics, STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) Fair, spelling bees, and geography bees depend on volunteers.

The school board continues to face hard decisions in an environment of flat or declining state funding, shifting legislative priorities, and decreased revenue from declining enrollment.  Community members, staff and parents again are rolling up their sleeves to assist the board through the Future Focus Task Force. They are investigating and identifying the most critical components of education as mandated by law as well as those components most highly valued by Anoka-Hennepin residents and will present a report to the School Board that outlines multiple options for various funding scenarios in the near future. Committed volunteers on this Task Force and numerous other decision-making committees have aided the district and schools during stressful times.

The volunteerism of over 10,000 individuals is especially meaningful during this difficult economy.  Their contribution for last school year totaled over 182,000 hours. Those hours have a symbolic value of $3,698,582 according to the per hour dollar value determined by the Independent Sector’s Giving and Volunteering in the United States. Amazing as this figure is, it doesn’t begin to encompass the true worth of service to our children.

The contribution of our volunteers whether they are parents, grandparents, community members, or staff volunteering outside their paid work help in so many ways toward our students achieving success.

A heartfelt thanks to all our volunteers whether they are volunteering in local schools, Adult Basic Education, or Youth Service!

Sincerely,

Sue Archbold, CVA
Anoka-Hennepin School District
Volunteer Services Supervisor