Letter: Unsung school helpers deserve recognition

It is time to celebrate our volunteers. The week of April 15-21 is proclaimed National Volunteer Appreciation Week.

This is the time to celebrate people doing extraordinary things through service.

“Celebrating People In Action” captures the meaning behind this signature week — honoring the individuals who dedicate themselves to taking action and helping in their communities — for us this would be our schools.

Volunteers play a vital role in the success of our schools. In the past year they have logged over 20,000 hours volunteering at the elementary and middle schools.

This makes a real difference for teachers who can focus on their most important job of educating our children.

Volunteers copy papers, laminate and prepare materials for classroom activities. This allows our teachers to spend more time in the classroom and less in the workroom.

Volunteers assist in the classrooms as well. They help with tutoring, first-aid testing, reading groups, chaperone field trips and lend an extra hand when projects are just too big for one adult to oversee.

This is the time to celebrate these volunteers and to spotlight the impact they have on our schools. Our volunteers range from young children to older adults, UWRF students, MMS and RFHS students.

They are those directly connected to a particular school and those who just want to help out at any of our schools. We are lucky to have so many who inspire our young people by their actions.

My fellow volunteer coordinators Cortney Hauschildt at Westside Elementary, Tara Albores at Rocky Branch Elementary, Chantel Mitchell at the River Falls Public Montessori Elementary, Jenny Karras at Greenwood Elementary and myself at Meyer Middle School would like to thank everyone who has helped to make a difference in a student’s day.

Tags: opinion, letters, k12