Volunteer Opportunities

Parent involvement in their child’s education is critical. STS strongly encourages parents to become involved in the school and to nurture a partnership with the school administration, faculty, and staff. Research clearly shows that a positive partnership between the home and the school has a powerful influence on a child’s achievement and sense of belonging in the school. Parent volunteers enrich daily school life, and enable teachers to focus on their most important jobs – teaching.

Any parent interested in participating on the Board or any Parents’ Association committee or activity may contact any Parents’ Association officer or indicate his or her desires on the electronic volunteer form. The following is a list of typical committees that are at work each year.

A.P.P.L.E. (Appreciative Parents’ Program to Laud Educators)

This committee provides lunch to all faculty and staff members on the first Wednesday of each month, and contributes unused tickets to community events to be raffled off for staff use.  This volunteer opportunity requires 1-2 hours, one day per year.

Auction

The St. Thomas School Auction, held every March, is a significant community and fundraising event. Help is needed with procurement, party planning, graphic design, audio/visual, and logistics. Working on the Auction offers an opportunity for all parents to participate in numerous ways in school life and is an excellent way to get involved and meet other parents.

Book Fair

Have fun and help with our annual Book Fair. This is a week-long event in mid-November, with opportunities for planning, set up, helping with checkout/sales, and clean-up. Volunteer time ranges from 1-5 hours the week of the event, with a fair amount of flexibility.

CampFair

Washington’s largest Camp Fair and the original St. Thomas School Community Service Project!  CampFair takes place on a Saturday in early February (typically the first Saturday), and it is a gathering of camps to promote their services to the community.  This is a great volunteer opportunity for those seeking evening and weekend participation.

Field Day

An all-school “Games Day” held on the second to the last day of school at Medina Park.  This is an event which allows children to work together on teams to complete physical challenges and have fun.  This volunteer opportunity requires 1-6 hours the day of the event, depending on the job.  This is an especially popular volunteer role for St. Thomas School dads.

Friends of the Arts

Formerly called Spring Arts, this committee works closely with the teachers involved with this event. You will offer the support needed in set up and take down of the children's art that will be displayed during the night of the event, held in May. It is a great chance to be a part of a wonderful evening for our community.

Halloween Party

This committee helps plan and set up the special activities for the annual costume parade, and Halloween celebration.  This volunteer opportunity requires approximately 5 hours of set up, as well as 1-6 hours in the two weeks prior to the event.

Hospitality

This committee sets up refreshments for School and Parents’ Association functions such as Open House, the Christmas Program, Grandparents’ Day, and Dads’ and Special Friends’ Day.  This volunteer opportunity requires 1-2 hours, five to six times per year.

Mentoring

This is a great opportunity to guide one of our new families through their first school year. The commitment will begin once the contracts have been received in the spring until the last day of school the following year. You will be a source of support and information about school events and life at St. Thomas School. You will receive monthly reminders suggesting topics you can review with your assigned family. This is an exciting chance to be a part of a new family's first year experience.

Office Help

This committee assists the STS Office with tasks such as stuffing envelopes, putting information in folders, and getting mass mailings ready to be sent out. These duties would be on and off throughout the year and on a volunteer basis.  This is a perfect committee for parents that can only volunteer after school hours, as some of these projects can be taken home to complete.

Open House

Run by the Admissions Office, this event is designed to attract potential new families to St. Thomas School.  The volunteer time commitment for this event is part of a Saturday morning/afternoon and some organizational meetings in advance of the actual event.  For the 2012-2013 school year, there will be an Open House event on Saturday, November 3, 2012, and another Open House event on Saturday, January 12, 2013.

Room Parent

Room parents serve an important function, providing support for the classroom teacher and as a communications liaison between the PA, committees, teacher, and parents.  This position requires several hours in the fall to organize the class parents to volunteer for duties throughout the year, as well as time during other events.  Because room parents are not assigned until the middle of the summer for the upcoming school year, the current room parent is responsible for continuing to distribute information to their class until their duty officially ends.

School Picture Days

This committee will schedule classes for pictures and help to escort the students/classes to the photographers.  The volunteers will also help with straightening up the children and making sure their clothes and hair are neat.  This is a two-day commitment in September, and also includes coordinating the all school photo, which will take place on one of the two picture days.  This volunteer opportunity also involves one day in November to assist with retake day for students who missed Picture Days or who need to have their picture retaken.

T.A.G./S.S.O.U.L.

T.A.G. (Teacher Appreciation Gifts)/S.S.O.U.L. (Secret Society Of United Leprechauns) is the committee dedicated to showing our teachers and staff how much they are appreciated throughout the year and is a fun team builder for parents as well.  Twice a year we provide a small surprise or inspiration for them as a sign of gratitude.  S.S.O.U.L. also makes sure that any staff member that is not assigned to a class, has their birthday remembered.  The time commitment for S.S.O.U.L. varies.  It can be as little as one hour or up to several hours depending on your availability.  Join the fun!

Uniform Closet & Lost and Found

This committee helps organize and maintain the Parents’ Association Used Uniform sales closet. This volunteer opportunity Includes washing (and light repairs) of contributions, and organizing and maintaining the uniform closet. Lost and Found duties include placing items in the lost and found bin and taking unclaimed items to charity every few months. Overall, the job requires a few days of preliminary organization.

Walkathon

This annual fundraiser is run by the Parents’ Association in mid-May, and includes a series of special, team-building events throughout the week, culminating in the Walkathon on a Friday. This is the only fundraiser specifically designed to raise money for the Parents’ Association.  This volunteer opportunity requires 10-20 hours of planning time prior to the week of events, and about 5 hours on the day of the event.

Yearbook

This committee is responsible for the production of the the time-honored tradition of the St. Thomas School yearbook.  It is a project that requires volunteers to photograph students and school activities as well as creating the layout of the yearbook.