Parents

Volunteer Opportunities at Southern Hills Middle School

There are many ways to support the students and staff at Southern Hills.  Brief volunteer descriptions are listed below.  A contact person is listed for some of the opportunities.  Emails will be sent out to solicit help for opportunities as they come up throughout the year.  If you would like to help in any area, or if you have any questions, please contact the person indicated or our Volunteer Coordinator, Fiona Vickers at 303-828-5754 or fiona_vickers@hotmail.com

Whether you have 30 minutes, a couple of hours or more….

Your time, your ideas, and your talents are needed.

Please consider volunteering.

It really does make a difference in our children’s lives!

ONGOING COMMITTEES

PTO Board Member: Serve as President, Secretary, Treasurer, or Volunteer Coordinator.  Meet once a month to coordinate events that support the students and staff.  Oversee the collection and disbursement of the Cougar Challenge Funds.  Contact any current board member.  See SHMS website for contact information for current members.

PTO Project Coordinators: These coordinators are in charge of a variety of projects during the school year including Cougar Challenge, PEN Representative, Registration, Conference Dinners, Honor Roll Celebrations, Teacher Appreciation, Back to School Picnic, and King Soopers Certificates.  Contact any current project coordinator.  See SHMS website for contact information for current members.

School Improvement Team (SIT) Member:  This is our school-based governance team.  We meet once a month (usually the second Monday) from 3:45 to 5 pm.  The group consists of teacher representatives from each department, administration and parent representatives (one from each grade level) as well as the DPC and DAC representatives who report back to our group about what is happening at the district level.  The group works on a consensus model and discusses, gets feedback, and makes decisions on a variety of school issues and policies.  This group also reviews and monitors progress towards our school goals.  Contact Terry Gillach terry.gillach@bvsd.org

District Parent Council (DPC):  This BVSD committee is comprised of one parent representative from each school in the district.  It meets on the third Wednesday of the month from 6:30 – 9:30p.m. at the Education Center Board Room located at 6500 Arapahoe, Boulder, CO 80303.  This group meets with the superintendant and other BVSD leaders to discuss issues, share ideas and what is happening at the schools.  NOTE:  As the DPC representative you are also a reporting and voting member of the Southern Hills SIT and attend our monthly meetings.  Contact Terry Gillach terry.gillach@bvsd.org

District Accountability Committee (DAC):  This BVSD committee is comprised of one parent representative from each school in the district.  It meets on the first Tuesday of each month from 6-9 p.m.  This committee also works with BVSD leadership on curriculum issues, academic issues and works with the Tools of Inquiry for Equitable Schools (TIES) model to solve problems.  NOTE:  As the DAC representative you are also a reporting and voting member of the Southern Hills SIT and attend our monthly meetings.  Contact Terry Gillach terry.gillach@bvsd.org

ONGOING OPPORTUNITIES

Band Volunteers:  Parent volunteers are needed as chaperones for field trips, concerts, bake sale organizers and help with recording students in the classroom.  Our band instructor, Jeff Rubin, will send out emails to the parents of band students requesting any help he needs throughout the year.

Choir Volunteers:  Our Choir instructor, Tina Dozauer-Ray, is always looking for experienced parent accompanists for rehearsals and concerts.  She also needs chaperones for field trips and volunteers to organize and bring treats for after concerts.  Contact Tina Dozauer-Ray Tina.Dozauer@bvsd.org

Copy Room Volunteers:  If you are looking for a direct way to help teachers at SHMS, volunteer for this job!  Copy volunteers generally come in between 1:00 and 3:00 p.m.  to make copies, collate and staple documents and do other tasks as needed. No experience is necessary!! You will be trained on how to use the equipment in the copy room.  You can set your schedule to come daily, weekly or biweekly.   A list of all the volunteer names, phone numbers, email addresses and scheduled times is given to each volunteer.  The teachers become very dependent on these volunteers, so it’s important for you to get a back-up for your time slot if you are not able to come in during your selected time!!!!  Currently the contact person is Jeanie Bacon Jeanie.bacon@bvsd.org .  We are looking for a coordinator for this position who would put together the list of volunteers and coordinate what days work best for each volunteer.  The copy jobs can last from 15 minutes to as long as 2 hours.  You are always welcome to call Jeanie before you come in to get an idea of what is in the copy basket!  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Jeanie Bacon

Field Trip Chaperones:  Classes take various field trips during the school year.  Chaperones will be solicited by the teachers via emails &/or letters home to parents.

Food Donations: Donate food for special events including conference dinners, teacher appreciation, food for science fair and history day judges, and other events as needed.  If you are interested in donating food items you can contact the PTO coordinator for each event (PTO contact information can be found on the school website).  You can also contact the Volunteer Coordinator, Fiona Vickers Fiona_vickers@hotmail.com

Health Room Volunteers:  6 to 8 volunteers able to commit to every week or every other week for a 2 1/2 to 3 hour shift.  In the past, shifts have been 8:40 – 11:00a.m or 1:00 – 3:30p.m and we have had volunteers on every day of the week.  Volunteers are required to be certified in First Aid –training is held in August and September (fills up fast) and is provided by the district at no charge.  No experience necessary.  Contact Monique Sedaghat, Health Room 303-494-2866 x229 or monique.sedaghat@bvsd.org

Honor Roll Celebrations:  A continental breakfast is held 4 times a year to honor all of the students who achieved a 3.5 or higher grade point average for the quarter.   Kelly Fano will coordinate these for the 08-09 school year.

Library Volunteers:  Our librarian, Linda Garcia, can always use help shelving books.  She can also use volunteers to help students with research projects.  This is especially needed at the 6th grade level.  Linda would be willing to train volunteers to do more detailed library work, but this would take a dedicated, long-term (at least the full school year) commitment on the part of the volunteer.  Contact Linda Garcia linda.garcia@bvsd.org

Lunch Room Volunteers:  This is an ongoing need throughout the school year and a great way to see the kids in action!!  There are 2 lunch periods: 

A Lunch  11:23AM to 11:53AM

B Lunch  12:18PM to 12:48PM

You can arrange any schedule that works best for you: daily, weekly, bi-weekly.  Contact Ina Rodriguez-Meyer ina.rodriguez-myer@bvsd.org

Orchestra Volunteers:  Parent volunteers are needed as chaperones for field trips and chaperones for String Camp held in September at the YMCA of the Rockies.  Our orchestra instructor, Brett Wallace, will solicit help from parents of students taking orchestra at the time he needs the assistance.

WEB Parent Leaders:  7th and 8th grade parents mentor incoming 6th grade parents, helping them adjust to the middle school experience.  Contact Jeannette Kornreich.  jeannette.kornreich@judicial.state.co.us

   ONE-TIME EVENTS

 Registration Help: (August)  Lots of volunteers are needed to help with stuffing registration packets in June and helping at one of the many stations set up for the registration process on registration day.  Contact Dawn Owen dawne6936@hotmail.com or 303-665-0255.

Back to School Picnic:  (August)   Volunteers are needed to set up for this event, serve food, and monitor the activities. Contact Kelly Fano fanofamily@comcast.net or 303-469-6606.

Vision & Hearing Screening:  (Wednesday, September 17, 2008)   About 20 volunteers needed.  No experience necessary.  Training will be provided that morning.  Contact Monique Sedaghat 303-494-2866 x229 or monique.sedaghat@bvsd.org

Open Enrollment Tours: (December & January) Parent volunteers are needed during open enrollment tours to assist the Spiders with the tours and provide parents of potential students with answers to any questions they may have.  Emails are sent out requesting volunteers for this opportunity several weeks before the tours begin in December. Contact Fiona Vickers  fiona_vickers@hotmail.com

Science Fair Judges:  (January)   Volunteers with a background in science are needed to help judge student projects.  Judges are responsible for speaking with students about their projects, filling out scoring sheets and giving written feedback.  Time commitment is from 8:30AM to 11:30AM.  Lunch is provided for all volunteers! Contact Brian Woltman brian.woltman@bvsd.org

National Geographic Geography Bee:  (January)   One volunteer per grade level willing to be present from 8:30AM to 3:30PM.  Must keep careful score of student answers.  No geography skills necessary!  Contact Steve Pilger  steve.pilger@bvsd.org

School Musical:  (January/February) Volunteers from the parents of the cast are asked to sew costumes, build sets, provide props, collect tickets, bake cookies and sell them the nights of the play. Denise (Pearman) Johnson is in charge of the play and will be making requests for help by email when the time comes.  Contact her for more information or if you have questions. denise.pearman@bvsd.org

History Day Judges: (February)   Volunteers need to be available for a full day commitment (8-3).   Lunch is provided from 12 -1 for all volunteers! Training will be provided that morning.  This is an excellent opportunity to view the talented work of SHMS 8th grade History buffs!!  Contact Zach Crandall  zach.crandall@bvsd.org

Diversity Day:   (April ) Parents can volunteer to be a presenter or help monitor the classes offered. Contact Ina Rodriguez-Meyers if you are interested in helping with Diversity Day.  Ina.rodriguez-myer@bvsd.org

Talent Show:  (April)  Volunteers are needed to set-up, serve and clean-up a pizza  lunch for the talent show participants on the day of the show.  Volunteers are also needed to collect tickets the evening of the show.  Contact Peter Kingsley at peter.kingsley@bvsd.org if you are interested in helping with the Talent show.

8th Grade Continuation Reception:  (May) 6th and 7th grade parents volunteer to help set up, serve and clean up the small reception that takes place for the 8th graders and their family’s right after the 8th grade Continuation Ceremony.  Contact Ina Rodriguez-Meyer ina.rodriguez-myer@bvsd.org

8th Grade Picnic:  (May)   Traditionally, a picnic is held at the South Boulder Recreation Center in the afternoon on the last day of school for the 8th graders.  Volunteers are needed to plan this event, set up, grill hotdogs and burgers, serve food, donate food and clean up after the event. Contact Terry Gillach terry.gillach@bvsd.org