The Ultimate Guide to Volunteering
Senior Francis Nieves and juniors Courtney Redmond and Danae Bibaud volunteer during the Rising Titans pep rally for freshmen to get them in the school spirit.
August 25, 2017
A student puts together a basket full of food and various products, wrapping the basket up afterwards and tying a bow around it. The next day you see the student handing out multiple baskets to students in need at the front of the school. Volunteering opportunities like this mean so much more than hours on paper.
People volunteer for many reasons, including getting the chance to help out your fellow peers and/or community members while earning volunteering credit for yourself which can help you receive scholarships, like the Bright Futures scholarship (it looks great on college applications, too!).
Here are some tips to help you with your volunteering hours.
- Get started. Take the hour long volunteer training course first. You can go online to complete the volunteer training course through the powerpoint and print out your posttest and turn it into Mrs. Norris. You must have at least scored an 8/10 to have passed the test.
- Get help. When looking for opportunities to volunteer, perhaps ask a teacher or guidance counselor for times or events when you can. It is more than likely that your guidance counselor will know of a school event in which you can help with, and sometimes teachers themselves need someone to help them out after school.
- Look on campus. Clubs and sports are always the perfect place to volunteer, since there is always some school wide or club event you can assist. Many clubs offer monthly chances to get hours, and usually all meetings and club-work count. There are also volunteering opportunities posted on the bulletin board in the guidance office. Be sure to listen to the morning and afternoon announcements for additional notifications.
- in the community. Not sure where else to volunteer? Visit a local non-profit organization that you might know about and see if you can volunteer. There are various organizations that could always use an extra pair of hands, like animal rescue shelters, retirement homes, and even hospitals.
*Try looking for volunteering opportunities here
- grab a friend. If you are ever scared or nervous about having to volunteer in a new place, ask a friend to volunteer with you. Having someone you are familiar with volunteer with you can make the difference in your comfortability.
If you have any inquiry regarding volunteer hours and how they work, you can always email your guidance counselor or email Mrs. Norris, head of counseling, directly.
