It's almost ironic that when Lorraine Vogel gave birth to her first child 23 years ago, she had to quit her classroom teaching job because she couldn't afford child care on a salary of $10,000. Ironic, because it was being a full-time mom that ultimately led to her back to the classroom as a parent volunteer, a job she still does.
"We lived in Albuquerque at the time, and my oldest was in a special education class. They didn't have any parents to help, so I did it," Vogel said. "I'd been a junior high math teacher in Texas and New Mexico, and I did miss teaching, but I ended up loving the work I did as a volunteer."
Vogel has four children, ages 23, 21, 19 and 17, and is the Parent Teacher Student Organization president at Douglas High School, where her youngest, Josh, is a junior. The parent group there is less like the child-centered organization that is standard in elementary schools, and Vogel said informative speakers at the monthly meetings are aimed at helping parents sift through the sometimes complicated world of high school.
"We've brought in speakers on scholarships, on suicide, on the ACT test scores and their effects, for example, and we've had a really good response from parents," Vogel said. "The big thing we did was to make information packets, with all the teachers' names and contact information, and send them home with students."
Vogel said the DHS parent group also participates in an after-school tutoring program where parents can work alongside teachers and students who want to do more.
Parents having the opportunity to work directly with students in Douglas County schools is important to Carol Lark, district superintendent since 2006.
"It is so important for us as a district to make parents feel welcome and feel like what they're doing is important," she said. "We consider family involvement critically important to our success."
There is a Family Involvement Team with administrators, teachers and parents that meets quarterly, Lark said she is impressed with several programs going on in the district, among them printing informative literature for parents in both English and Spanish at Minden Elementary School overseen by Principal Ken Stoll; and another, a program aimed at training parents of first graders to read more effectively with their children at Piñon Hills Elementary School.
"We specifically target the children who are behind with this program, and some of the parents have been so thankful," said PHES Principal Rommy Cronin. "The teachers invite parents to come in with their kids, and the reading specialist talks to them, makes them a cheat sheet, and models reading with the children. We also do a similar training in September for parents who want to volunteer."
Lisa Hamilton, Parent Teacher Organization president at PHES, says working with Cronin is easy because she doesn't micromanage the PTO, but gives her support and suggestions when needed.
"She even came to our December meeting, which happened to be her 40th birthday, so we had cake and flowers for her," said Hamilton, who started volunteering after moving here in 2003.
"I realized it was the perfect way to meet people and also get involved in my children's school," she said. "And, my kids love that I'm involved -- they're actually disappointed I won't be president next year because my two-year term will be up."
Hamilton's two sons, 7-year-old Kellen and 10-year-old Ryan, have definitely benefited, too, Hamilton said, because she became a more informed parent.
"For me, volunteering here has been a good way to really understand the workings of the school, especially as a new parent," she said. "The more information you have, the more you understand, and it eliminates frustrations and stops the rumor mills."
For family members who say they don't have the time to volunteer at their children's schools, Hamilton, who now works full time, has some advice.
"I juggle things, and we make sacrifices," she said. "I pay for a house cleaner and sometimes the laundry doesn't get done, and sometimes we eat out more than two times a week, but I feel like I'm showing my kids that even though I'm working, they're the most important thing."
For those whose children are too old to be in grades K-12, or just anyone wanting to volunteer in Douglas County schools, Sherry Dilley runs the Douglas County Literacy Volunteers, a program she started a few years ago through the No Child Left Behind program.
"This has been a great thing for everyone, and we have a few requirements," Dilley said. "We ask for a commitment of one hour a week for one year. They have to have a background check, and they agree to tell the teacher and the student if they can't be there."
Dilley said Superintendent Lark has provided a liaison at every school, and her 40-plus volunteers range from retired principals to high school students.
"One volunteer lost her husband last summer and couldn't get out of bed. Now she says working with the kids has kept her going," Dilley said. "We'll do whatever it takes to get them in there volunteering."
Like many school volunteers, Vogel knows it's not only her children who benefit from having an extra friendly face in a place where learning involves more than just timetables and reading.
"You do it for your own child, but you also do it for all the children," she said. "When you're volunteering, you feel like every child in there is your own."
Sidebar:
For more information, the DCSD parent involvement policy:
[ http://www.dcsd.k12.nv.us/pdf/226BP.pdf ]www.dcsd.k12.nv.us/pdf/226BP.pdf and guidelines: [ http://dcsd.k12.nv.us/index.php?click1=parents&click2=parentinvolve ]http://dcsd.k12.nv.us/index.php?click1=parents&click2=parentinvolve
U.S. Dept. of Ed guidelines for volunteering and schools: [ http://www.ed.gov/parents/academic/help/adolescence/partx2.html ]www.ed.gov/parents/academic/help/adolescence/partx2.html
