VOLUNTEERING

Volunteer Experience #1
Total Hours: close to 60
During the Fall of 2013 and the Spring of 2014, I volunteered for the afterschool program
Flagship at Franklin Elementary School in Missoula. For both semesters, I co-led a group of 2nd5th grade students in the class called Homework Help. For this experience we (generally 2-3
college students) assisted students in finishing their homework that covered the topics of math,
reading, social studies, science, and geography. I went to Flagship once a week, for two hours
after school.
There were many other responsibilities besides helping students with their homework
problems. We managed students on the playground and made sure to watch them as they played
safely and respectfully. Continuous monitoring of students as they walked to and from the
outside of the building and through the halls was also a job requirement. We passed out afternoon
snacks that were provided by the school and took attendance for each meeting.
Beginning the program, I was a little concerned about the responsibilities that the
volunteer position entailed but as soon as I practiced the routine with students, I became more
and more positive about my role as the co-teacher. While at first I was not confident I could
handle all of these different age ranges in one classroom, the experience soon proved to be
beneficial to my comfort level in front of a group of students.
Participating in this experience for two semesters really began to open my eyes to the
world of teaching and all that is included under that umbrella. At this school, I had the privilege
to work with students of low Socio-Economic-Status and those of the higher SES. Most students
were on a free and reduced lunch plan and attended Flagship while their parents worked the extra
hours after school. Many students had rough backgrounds and lived with family, other than their
parents. This brought to my attention the fact that many times, school is the only place these
students feel protected and secure. Knowing this has empowered me to provide a safe and
positive environment in my future classroom.

I truly enjoyed feeling like I had control of my own classroom and I think that Flagship
was the perfect avenue to get experience practicing this. It allowed me to manage and to instruct
a group of students and try out different methods of giving and helping with information.
Overall, it was a positive and exciting volunteer opportunity.

Volunteer Experience #2
Total Hours: 4
In the Spring of 2015 I had the pleasure of volunteering at Target Range Elementary
School (grades K-8) for their special math day: Pi Day! (March 14th, 2015 3.1415) The
festivities began at 9:00 a.m. and started with a pep-talk from teachers to students in the gym to
explain all the activities lined up for the day. After this we all went down to a smaller gym where
students began looking at and playing with different math stations that were somehow related to
Pi. There were stations about measuring by taking the circumference of any round object and
dividing that number by the diameter of the circle and: your answer was pi! To do this they let
students explore various spherical and circular objects to calculate their answer of pi by means of
different formulas. Also in the room, teachers had provided various book titles that dealt with pi
and all of its interesting and truly magical properties.
After morning activities we helped escort students back to the larger gym where they all
participated in a circle sit where each student sits on the lap of the student behind them, all to
be arranged in a circle. This was something I had never seen or heard of before! But, at 9:26 all
students began to sit and held it out for a few minutes. Many tried to make it a full 5 minutes but
a lot of the circle fell apart.
To stretch our legs, everyone moved outside to the track where staff, students, family
members, and volunteers could race around the track 3.14 times. This could be done while riding
on a bicycle or walking/running on feet. Once completed, we all received pi pencils as our token.
We ended the day going back to the gym to play pi games which were really just games
that used circular objects like whiffle balls, tennis balls, Frisbees, hula-hoops, etc. This was my
favorite part of the day because it was at this point that I was able to interact with the students,
tell them about what I was studying in school, and ask them questions about their school. It was
also just a fun and relaxing time for students to enjoy their Saturday.

Though this volunteer opportunity was posed to all students in the 400 block of the
education department, I was the only one who showed up to this particular event! Reflecting
back on my experience, it was a very interesting way to put a fun spin on a tough subject for
many students (including myself). What I gathered from this volunteer day was that any subject
can be enjoyable if you have the right tools to stretch student thinking yet present learning in a
fun way.