People who overcome adversity in their lives to become personally and professionally successful have something in common: At a critical juncture in their childhood, they had at least one positive relationship with a caring adult.
Schools can promote those powerful relationships and provide students with the love and attention they might not get elsewhere by inviting retired senior citizens into their classrooms. Our school district did just that, and we are reaping the benefits.
In 1998, a $100,000 grant from the National Senior Service Corp. allowed our district to hire an associate superintendent to focus on developing and supervising the Retired and Seniors Volunteer Program. This initiative brings people who are 55 or older into the schools to share their expertise and experiences.
The nationally funded program, known as RSVP Volunteers, provides a unique opportunity not only to give seniors a way to contribute to their community but also to provide some children with the caring adults they need to succeed.
Tapping Talent
Senior volunteers become involved in the program in several ways, They may be recruited through media advertising or informational meetings at senior citizen centers, senior housing centers and churches or synagogues.
Seniors who are interested in volunteering receive a brief orientation about the program and their role in the school. They also attend training sessions that focus on such topics as tutoring children in reading, speaking to classes about life experiences, helping in libraries, participating in family mentoring or in afterschool programs and establishing an ongoing, nurturing relationship with a child.
Seniors chose training in areas of interest and in which they believe they have the most to offer.
Teachers at each school request volunteers and provide RSVP staff with a list of activities in which they would like the volunteers to participate. RSVP staff then match the abilities and interests of the volunteers with the teachers' needs. After the seniors are placed in the schools, they receive more targeted in-service instruction and supervision specific to their responsibility.
The principal oversees the program at the building level. Teachers directly supervise the volunteers placed with them.
Volunteers' schedules are flexible and built around the amount of time each volunteer is willing and able to commit to the program. These seniors serve without compensation but may be reimbursed for such expenses as transportation and meals. Accident and liability insurance is provided as a secondary coverage while they are volunteering.
Success Factors
To be successful, seniors-in-schools programs such as RSVP must have specific goals that are communicated to all participants, including the volunteers, teachers and administrators. Our district's program aims to improve student literacy, provide mentoring to at-risk students, improve student attendance and enrich the learning environment through afterschool and extracurricular programs.
The program's effectiveness also depends on appropriate matches between the volunteers and the activities they perform, between the volunteers and they teachers with whom they work, and between the volunteers and the students with whom they interact. Before the volunteers and teachers commit to the partnership, they meet to determine if their philosophies, styles and personalities are compatible. The volunteers also meet the students prior to working with them in the classroom.
Teachers who request volunteers receive in-service training to ensure they have a clear understanding of the program and how the volunteers can best serve the students in their classrooms.
Support from students, parents and the community is also necessary. I host biweekly luncheons for students at local restaurants. Two RSVP volunteers are invited to each luncheon to explain their roles. This is a great way for the students to get to know the volunteers.
The RSVP volunteers who have been in our schools for at least one year cited the following benefits to them: a feeling of satisfaction from helping others; an opportunity to remain active; the ability to make use of skills and talents; and the chance to see how today's students learn differently but form relationships in customary ways.
As we conclude our third year of the program, we have seen how students love and respect these adults, treat them with admiration and seek them out for help. Staff members are grateful, too, and include them in all staff activities. We have 150 senior citizens involved at this time at eight school locations, and they truly feel wanted and needed.
Even the community celebrates their contributions. Local businesses sponsor luncheons, dinners and parties to honor our RSVP volunteers. Outstanding volunteers are recognized on the national level.
Kate Stetzner is superintendent of the Butte Public Schools, 111 North Montana St., Butte, Mont. 59701. E-mail: stetznerk@nutte.k12.mt.us