Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) Volunteer Services Program, March 2018 >>>>> Incorporation into the Department of Academic Assistance as Major Focus of the K-12 Revolution

Volunteers are a potentially tremendous resource for the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS), but individuals willing to give of their free time are currently underused;  moreover, volunteers are not used with a driving purpose to lift academic achievement in a cohesive and highly intentional manner.

 

Currently, there is no department of volunteer services, nor is there one person designated to coordinate a volunteer program of the Minneapolis Public Schools.  In past years, there has been one person receiving a mid-level salary (approximately $70,000) by the standards of the central bureaucracy at the Davis Center (MPS central offices, 1250 West Broadway), where the highest earners receive $145,00 and upward to Superintendent Ed Graff’s $225,000 annual salary.

 

Contact persons for volunteer efforts at the Minneapolis Public Schools are those who coordinate a small number of training sessions and those who are affiliated with outside providers of volunteers, most of these connected in some way to AmeriCorps/ VISTA .  AmeriCorps/ VISTA programs utilized by the Minneapolis Public Schools include City of Lakes AmeriCorp (providing language skill training to students with a key goal of cultivating student self-advocacy);  College Possible (providing skill training of the type needed for favorable results on the ACT and preparation for college and university attendance);  and VISTA (which provides volunteers for a diversity of applications).  Also providing volunteers to the Minneapolis Public Schools is Reading Corps, a national volunteer organization emphasizing reading readiness by grade 3.

 

The MSP website provides limited information on volunteer programming for the school district.

 

A general description is given on the website as follows:

 

Volunteers play an important role in Minneapolis Public

Schools (MPS).  Each year, approximately 8,000 volunteers-

including college students, family members, business people

and community members- share their time and talents with

MPS.  Volunteers bring fresh perspectives, enthusiasm, and

support as they assist teachers, staff, and students. 

 

With 70+ schools throughout Minneapolis, there are thousands

of opportunities to get involved and make a difference.

 

Key current volunteer opportunities available recently and at present (March 2018) are given as follows

 

Highlighted Volunteer Opportunities

7th Annual STEM & Career Exploration Expo- Minneapolis Convention Center

Wednesday February 21, 2018   8am-3pm

Help guide students through interactive STEM activites and increase 8th graders' interest in STEM-related career opportunities

Multiple shifts available
 

Small Group Volunteer Readers (6th Grade Science)- Anwatin Middle School

Seeking volunteers to read with small groups of 6th grade students during science class.  Seeking volunteers for English-language classes as well as Spanish Immersion classes.

Dates and times:  Tuesday and/or Wednesdays 1-4pm.  Program runs from 11/7/17-4/25/18.
For more information: contact Jerilyn Rogers at jerilyn.rogers@mpls.k12.mn.us or 612-668-2454.

 

Adult Education- multiple locations

Assist adults with math, writing, reading, computer basics and ELL (ESL).  Work with individuals or small groups. 

Time commitment 1-3 hours per week- options ot fit your interests and schedule.
For more information: please visit our Adult Ed volunteer page.

 

Reading Partners- multiple locations

Seeking volunteer tutors for the 2017-18 school year.

Give as little as one hour a week. Flexible weekday volunteer times are available.
Follow a highly effective, structured and easy-to-use curriculum. No formal teaching experience is required.

Tutors make a lifelong impact on a child who struggles with reading.  On average, students more than double their rate of reading progress while in the program.

Organics/Recycling Monitor- Hmong International Academy

This volunteer position is for a person who cares about the environment and wants to pass on that passion to children. Students need support in the cafeteria to accurately sort their lunch waste into Organics, Recycling and Trash bins. There are frequent opportunities to re-teach students what goes where! If desired, volunteers could also join the Green Team and help plan for the on-going success of the project and care of our environment. 

 

Time commitment is 9:50am-noon, one day a week.  A 6-week time commitment is requested.

 

Training sessions for volunteers are given as follows: 

Minnesota Literacy Council Training Opportunities

Tutoring Basics

Tutoring Basics is the essential two-and-a-half hour workshop for learning core strategies to be a tutor with youth in grades K-12.

Wednesday, March 14, 2018 - 9:30 a.m. - 12 noon

ABCs of Reading

ABCs of Reading is a three-hour, hands-on workshop that will equip you with lots of practical and fun tools to use when helping K-3rd grade children learn to read.

Monday, March 5, 2018 - 6 - 9 p.m. 

Working with English Language Learners

Working with English Language Learners is a two-and-a-half-hour workshop that will prepare you to help K-12 English language learners excel in school. We’ll cover background information about student populations in the Twin Cities, general best practices for working with English Language Learners, strategies for helping English Language Learners with reading and writing and activities for developing oral language.

Tuesday, February 27, 2018 - 9:30 a.m. - 12:00 noon 

Building Community in the Classroom

At this two-hour workshop, we’ll go over strategies for behavior management and community building that you can adapt and use right away. This training is open to anyone working with K-12 students in an educational setting.

Thursday, March 1, 2018 - 6 - 8 p.m.

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The use of volunteers at the Minneapolis Public Schools is disarticulated and ineffective. 

Ineffectiveness is manifest in the fact that fewer than 45% of MPS students meet state standards in mathematics, reading, and science;  and under conditions in which fewer than 25% of African American, Hispanic, American Indian, Hmong,  and Somali students meet those standards.

As the K-12 Revolution sweeps down the hallways of the Davis Center, the MPS volunteer effort will become highly articulated and coherent as a part of the new Department of Academic Assistance.  With the new knowledge-intensive, skill-replete curriculum and thoroughly retrained teaching staff, there will be no need for the former Department of Teaching and Learning.  Any former functions of that department deemed necessary will be subsumed under the new Department of Academic Assistance.

Volunteers will be generously utilized in an energetic program of highly intentional, coherent, highly focused academic enrichment, whereby K-5 students will receive one hour a day for tutoring or extra academic experiences, as befits individual student need;  as well as multiple hours in after school enrichment opportunities for students at all K-12 grade levels.

Volunteers will be provided extensive, rigorous training for a volunteer program now focused keenly on raising achievement levels for students languishing academically below grade level and those in a position to explore challenging additional academic experiences.  Volunteers will also be utilized to assist in imparting strong knowledge and skill sets to all students, maximizing chances to thrive on college and university campuses and in professions.

 

The new leadership that will enter as the K-12 Revolution transforms the Minneapolis Public Schools will evaluate volunteers with the assumption that much freely given time can be used to powerful academic purposes.  Additional paid staff to be utilized for academic assistance functions will be hired as necessary.