Volunteer Opportunities at West Woodland

There are many opportunities to be involved, both during and after school hours. For classroom roles, it’s a great idea to speak directly with your child’s teacher so they can plan and organize. In addition, let us know your interests by indicating them on our on-line Volunteer form and returning it to the office. PTSA-sponsored events are marked with an asterisk.

Don’t hesitate to call the contacts for an activity if you have questions. If you have ideas for programs not listed, please let us know if you’d like assistance in using your special talents. Please contact any member of the PTSA Board to talk about fundraisers, or the Volunteer Coordinators Kristin Storey and Carriann Alabastro, tel. 252-1589, Room #200.

Assist, instruct or organize a program from 3:30 - 4:30pm. Programs have included Team Sports, Roller Skating, Study club, Choir, Drama, Drumming, young Artist's Academy, Chess, and Language Club. Please visit our on-line Student Activities menu. See also “Wacky Wednesdays”. (For the most complete and up-to-date list of Student Activities, please contact the main office.)

Parents are always welcome to bring new ideas to enhance our children’s education. Contact Linda Caron (252-1589) to schedule after school fun!

Present great works of art and related activities in classrooms once a month for a 1-hour lesson. Teach principles and elements of art. Training provided at a local museum. Work with your child’s teacher or multiple classrooms in bringing Art enrichment. Contact Denny Stern (783-5844) or Marie DeBell (783-2263).

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Chair or co-chair this fundraiser! Assist in organizing bake sales. Or take a shift at a sale table, selling baked goods donated by West Woodland families on election days and other special school events. This fund-raiser brings in over $1,000 per year and is delicious! Cate Palmer (548-0263)

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Young Savers' Program sponsored by Washington Mutual. Receive students' deposits at school and deliver deposits to the bank. Kay Stelter (781-4559) and Leigh Anne Hagar (783-6023) is the “Teller” and organizer of this program.

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Assist students in selecting and purchasing books, erasers, etc. at sales held 2 times a year in the LRC (library). Sales earn extra purchase funds for LRC materials. Buying materials at this twice a year sale is a great way to support our library purchases. Contact Paula Wittmann in the Library (252-1581) if you can help.

Families turn in their boxtops to the school office or the drop bin near the elevator at the front entrance. Collect, count and submit logos from General Mills cereal boxes, Yoplait and Betty Crocker snack products to receive funds for the school. Rebecca Hoffman (781-0366) is the lead of this fundraiser.

Assist Teachers, Staff and PTSA with displays throughout the school and Sandwich Board Updates. Make our school halls creative, organized and fun! Great opportunity for working parents to volunteer in the evening. Contact Heather Jenkins (783-6181).

Collect, count and submit labels from Campbell products, including Pepperidge Farm, Prego, etc. Labels are collected in a bin across from the school office. Rebecca Hoffman (781-0366) is the lead.

Sponsored by Chess Mates, this club meets on Mondays after school. Learn to play chess with students of varying ability from Chess Master, Dr. Leo Stefurak, who took our top players to 10th in the nation. Check out the Chess Club web page. Beth Dennis (783-1234) coordinates Chess Club.

Assist in academics, art, science, field trips, and material preparation at school and/or at home. Contact your child’s teacher or your Room Representative (Homeroom parent) for ways in which you can help. Kristin Storey (252-1589)  

Assist with classes and labs, trouble-shoot problems with computers and peripherals such as printers and scanners, plus help with students' projects. Steve Sorensen (252-1616).

Help produce and maintain the annual printed school directory of faculty, staff, students, parents, volunteers, and other school affiliates. The directory is a vital contact resource. (Note that inclusion is voluntary.) Monica Petersen (789-9384) leads this group in the fall. Come and join the fun, computer experience is helpful but not required.

Help coordinate new events like Spaghetti Night, Roller Skating Night, etc. Fun events scheduled throughout the year. Contact the PTSA board.

Evening science event with various hands-on science activities. Individual and group projects are submitted by our very own West Woodland young scientists! Last year, our teachers demonstrated National Science Foundation projects used in the classrooms. Bess Melby (789-4924)

This Year-end all-school event is really FUN! Organize and setup events in the play field including sack race, water-balloon toss, rubber chicken relay tug of war and bowling, just to name a few. We need a volunteer coordinator to help. Call Kattie Barrett (252-1585) or Priscilla Milton (772-3636)

First Day Greeters welcome and direct students, greet buses and help ease those first-day jitters! Sign up for next September with the PTSA Board.

Yes, that’s right, 2004. Start saving your stuff now to donate to an event that last year proved to be one of the most fun for parents and kids. Not to mention free motivation for spring cleaning and purging yourself of “junk.” Contact Linda Caron (252-1589, 782-3164) if garage sales and hunting for that hidden treasure is your passion!

West Woodland Cares! Our Food Drive benefits our local food bank. Northend Emergency Fund/Ballard-Magnolia Food Bank is a wonderful program in our area and offers elementary students an opportunity to learn more about social service agencies. >Donate canned good items or non-perishable foods in the classrooms and at various school events to help someone in our community in need. Heather Graham (781-3093) leads the effort, and welcomes your energy and input.

Help our families and community become aware of fund raising needs through direct-appeal or specific events. Corporate sponsorship, PIPE Partners and Alliance for Education are sources of support for our PTSA and school programs, and we know there are many more out there. Contact Shelly Hurley (784-8276)

Each fall the PTSA holds a wrapping paper sale, followed by sales of Value Coupon books. This important fall fund-raiser contributes over $10,000 to PTSA-sponsored programs. Leigh Anne Hagar (783-6023) leads the project and needs volunteers to help collect and tally orders, and to distribute the products.

Identify opportunities to apply for grants to fund special school projects and educational enhancement. If you have grant writing experience, please let us know! Contact Cate Palmer (252-1589) and Jana Pettit (788-0812).

Join Kristen Story-Johnson (784-7411) and her team of Ballard Market talliers. This fund-raiser earns an average of $2,000 each year for our PTSA! Collect, tally and submit receipts. With more helpers we can add on PCC!

The PTSA offers families a convenient way to order ID tags or bracelets. They list your child’s name, address, phone #, and allergies. Basically they're like tags you put on you pets and yes, you can get a pet tag). The tags can be ordered as a necklace, bracelet, or something to put on your shoe. Order forms are in first-day packets. Collect, order and distribute ID tags. Contact Laura Stern (781-1925).

This end of the year event welcomes incoming Kindergarten families to West Woodland, and is a chance for them to meet the staff, families, teachers, and new friends. Help set up, scoop, and fling jimmies. Do you have an incoming Kindergartner next year? Contact Kay Stelter (781-4559).

The Advisory Council organizes tours of West Woodland for prospective students and their families. Help show off our fabulous facility and answer questions. Sponsored by the Advisory Council.

Shelve books to keep one of the most utilized libraries in the district organized and up-to-date. Explore all those wonderful resource materials and quite literally, check them out! Contact Paula Wittmann in the Library (252-1581).

Encourage PTSA membership, collect and process membership applications, maintain roster and distribute membership cards.

Assist in the nurse’s office part-time when the nurse is off-site. Help on screening days, or give that extra TLC to children with bumps and scrapes. Training provided. Contact Marie DeBell (783-2263).

Librarian Don Holert leads a camping trip for 4th and 5th graders to Camp Seymour each spring. Volunteers are needed to help organize and fundraise. Contact Bev Bunzel, Jan Dalbey, Anna Ioannides.

Let’s make sure we capture the great moments of the school year ahead! Lee Smith has volunteered to organize the photographers among us so school events are covered, and to get your great pics to the Web master, Yearbook Editor, and others who need them. To help, give Lee Smith a call (789-0455).

A great chance for us all to enhance our gardens—bring your plant starts, dividing leftovers, unwanted volunteers (plant variety) to swap. Our busy recess gardeners will have some wares to sell. Contact Linda Caron (252-1589).

Assist staff with before-school and recess supervision. Help keep our playground safe and clean. How are you at kick ball or jump rope? Work with the Peer mediation team of 4th and 5th graders, foster safe and fun play, or just be a great listener. Do you have 20 minutes a week? Do you have a hankering to inventory play equipment? Contact Linda Caron (252-1589).

Assist with holiday sales of Poinsettias for PTSA fundraising (early December). Contact Shelly Hurley (784-8276).

The "Wildcat News" is a PTSA newsletter distributed quarterly to all West Woodland families. This is a wonderful volunteer position for someone with computer word processing skills who is seeking a way to volunteer after daytime business hours. Work with Starla Smith (789-0455). View the latest Wildcat News*. (*Requires Adobe Acrobat Viewer 4.0 or newer, download latest viewer.)

West Woodland students are encouraged to read, through this exciting fall program! This committee works with West Woodland staff to develop incentives to read. Volunteers tally minutes read and assist with parties or prizes that reward students for their efforts! Contact Paula Wittmann in the Library, 252-1581.

This is a great opportunity for students and volunteers to experience the wonderful and fulfilling world of gardening. This program involves cultivating and nurturing plants on school grounds during recess, plus litter clean up and sweeping. Because it is seasonal and weather dependent, the exact times and dates are to be announced. Look for our wish list in an upcoming issue of the Volunteer Newsletter! Contact Linda Caron at 252-1589.

Help facilitate this nationally sponsored arts competition in the fall. Entries in visual art, literature and music are accepted, and we need helpers to organize and display. All entrants are exhibited; winners go on to city competition. Contact Derin Smith (781-1587).

Assist teachers with organizing other classroom parents for special events, parties, field trips, and science kits. Act as an important link between other parents in the classroom via phone and email. Kathie Vitz (789-0754) is the lead of the room representative committee and this role can help tighten fabric of our classrooms. Speak with your teacher if you are interested!

Help classes get group pictures taken, comb hair, help kids line up, and organize filling out forms. Contact Bonnie Fromm (706-5674) or Kay Stelter (781-4559).

Create, promote and maintain PTSA science programs, such as Science-to-Go boxes, Wild Garden projects and Family Science Night (this evening science event is usually held in March, with various hands-on science activities and individual and group projects), in coordination with West Woodland teachers and staff. Contact Bess Melby (789-4924).

Contact Shelly Hurley (784-8276).

This committee recognizes the hard work of our teachers and staff throughout the year. A special week in May is devoted to providing special support, thank you gifts and a staff luncheon. Contact Bonnie Fromm (706-5674) with your ideas and energy.

Contact Steve Sorensen (252-1616).

It's fun to wear your school shirt! Our logo is a four-color Wildcat, designed by a West Woodland parent/artist! Arrange for production, sales and distribution of the shirts. Contact Shelly Hurley (784-8276).

Your child makes a lasting impression on our school through this special tile project! First grade parents assist kindergarten parents in helping their child create a kid's art tile that decorates the walls of West Woodland. Arrange for the completion of tiles and professional tile setting. Volunteers are needed in April and May for this major Kindergarten Art Event. Contact Steve Sorenson (784-6289) or Tami Posey (784-6225).

Help with ongoing small repairs all year round- indicate your area of expertise and we’ll call as projects arise. Be a handy person for our teachers and events! Contact Steve Sorenson (784-6289).

Work with students individually or in small groups in class. Help with reading, math, writing, spelling and science. Communicate with teacher on student's progress. Extra attention and time brings higher potential and self-esteem! Training and handbooks provided. Contact Linda Caron, Cate Palmer (252-1589), or Debbie Gotchef (782-6684).

We welcome your contributions, especially articles and information regarding our greater community and ways we can make it stronger and become more involved. Contact Cate Palmer (252-1589) with your ideas and content.
View latest newsletter. (*Requires Adobe Acrobat Viewer 4.0 or newer, download latest viewer.)

Organize or assist bringing fun activities and special classes to our school on the 2-hour early dismissal days.

We need your talent and ideas—please improve on our existing options (whittling and taxidermy)! Snacks provided. Call Linda Caron or Cate Palmer (252-1589).

Help bring our on-line presence alive. Assist teachers in creating classroom web pages, posting classroom art, etc. Be a watchdog for updates and work with the committee and web master in design and maintenance of our great site! This is a great way to volunteer electronically. Contact  Steve Sorensen (252-1616) with your talents and ideas.

Host and plan a tea for new students and families (next September) to visit classrooms before First Day. Sign up for next September with the PTSA Board.

Assist with saving labels and redeeming them with Western Family for cash to be used by our school PTSA. Contact Shelly Hurley (784-8276) if you would like to help.

Help nurture our Native Northwest Plants by identifying and caring for the beautiful greenery surrounding our school grounds. Participate in 2 major work party events held at school in the fall and the spring - a great chance to get your hands dirty and build community. Contact Julie Park (781-0810) or Linda Caron (252-1589) about areas in need of weeding and work!

An evening family event held each December, the Winter Fair features hands-on crafts activities, craft sales by parent and community artisans, and a bake sale fundraiser. This event brings a warm welcome to the holidays! Call Heather Jenkins (783-6181) or Linda Caron or Cate Palmer (252-1589).

Help produce the annual yearbook (layout, photography, journalism, etc.). The yearbook is a reflection of the prior school year, and a keepsake for students and their families to treasure for years to come. Regan Hagar (783-6023).

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