The Shadow
RURITAN PROGRAM — Sharon Ruritan Club members recently were motivated to become volunteers at Sharon Elementary School. School staff and parent volunteers who spoke at the February club meeting explained numerous opportunities for members to become involved within the school and in the classroom, aiding teachers and students. From left: Chip Snead, Ruritan Club vice president; Jennifer Seckner, school volunteer; Mike Layton, club president; Michelle Downs, president of the school’s Parent-Teacher Organization; Connie Puckett, fifth grade teacher. (Photo Courtesy Sharon Ruritan Club)
RURITAN PROGRAM — Sharon Ruritan Club members recently were motivated to become volunteers at Sharon Elementary School. School staff and parent volunteers who spoke at the February club meeting explained numerous opportunities for members to become involved within the school and in the classroom, aiding teachers and students. From left: Chip Snead, Ruritan Club vice president; Jennifer Seckner, school volunteer; Mike Layton, club president; Michelle Downs, president of the school’s Parent-Teacher Organization; Connie Puckett, fifth grade teacher. (Photo Courtesy Sharon Ruritan Club)
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By Linda Archer
SHARON — A Sharon Elementary School teacher and two parent volunteers attended a recent meeting of the Sharon Ruritan Club to give members some ideas for volunteering and promoting school projects that would support students and teachers.
Connie Puckett, a fifth grade teacher, has worked with the Sharon Club for several years in planning and conducting a writing contest for fifth graders. The contest is held in the spring when winners are selected by club members and awarded certificates and prizes at their elementary school graduation ceremony.
Volunteers at the meeting were Michelle Downs, who also serves as president of the Sharon Parent-Teacher Organization; and Jennifer Seckner.
They discussed a number of school projects in which volunteers are badly needed. Those projects include the Santa Shop, Halloween carnival, spring carnival, Field Day and American Education Week.
Within the classroom volunteers are very useful for numerous tasks, including reading to students, copying and completing paperwork that teachers may need, and cutting and preparing materials for class projects.
Another area of volunteering is valuable to the appearance of the school, and includes gardening and landscaping.
The Ruritans heard from these workers about the value of students having dictionaries. The Ruritans have discontinued the project of giving all third grade students their own dictionary because of the misconception that students today use the computer for such needs. However, many students do not have the use of a computer at home to meet these needs, so the Sharon Club will again discuss the possibility of providing third graders with dictionaries.
One hurdle for volunteering in schools today is the need for those who work directly with students to undergo police background checks. It is required for those volunteers to complete and pay for necessary paperwork, including fingerprinting, at the Alleghany County Courthouse in Covington.
The visitors concluded that volunteering in the schools is an extremely worthy use of time given to help our teacher reach students within the classroom and a very rewarding experience for adults who work with students.
Sharon Elementary School is a Blue Ribbon School where all staff and volunteer work together many long hours to maintain the standards of excellence required to achieve this level of recognition.
