Volunteering at BEST

Be part of the BEST Team - Make a Difference!

Time to Volunteer!

BEST needs volunteers for the following:

1.  Morning Café – one day a week for one hour – 9:15 a.m. to 10:15 a.m.
2.  Daycare – one day a week for one hour – 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
3.  Library – one day a week (you pick the hour) – any time between 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m
4.  Office Help - filing projects - anytime for one or two hours, 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Please call the main office to sign up – 425-828-3289, or use our Volunteer Form.  Thanks

The volunteers we have here at BEST High School are both parents and community members who care about kids. Volunteers provide enrichment to our school like the BEST Newsletter, Morning Cafe, and Library, which would not exist without their help. Our office volunteers help with the sometimes-overwhelming tasks of maintaining student files and mailings. We also have volunteers who donate their time to the child-care center, as classroom helpers, lecturers and helping our seniors with college and scholarship applications and even in maintaining our web site. These things make a huge difference for our entire school community.  The time and positive energy that volunteers provide for BEST High School may seem small to them, but they are huge to us! 

A good article about the value of volunteering in schools appeared in the Seattle Times recently, "Helping Out is a High Priority".

A New Wave of Evidence:

Relationships Between Effective Parental Involvement and Student Achievement

A new body of research by the Southwest Regional Educational Developmental Laboratory found a positive and convincing relationship between family involvement and benefits for students, including academic achievement. Studies also concluded that students with involved parents no matter what income level, or background are more likely to have success in school.

The research falls into three broad categories: Category I) Impact of family and community involvement on student achievement, Category II) Effective strategies to connect schools, families, and community, and Category III) Engaging parents and families through special programs makes a difference. Key research findings follow with recommendations:

Category I

There is an impact of parent, family and community involvement on student achievement.

Higher grade point averages and scores on standardized tests or rating scales;

Enrollment in more challenging academic programs;

More classes passed and credits earned;

Better attendance;

Improved behavior at home and at school and

Better social skills and adaptation to school

Programs and interventions engaging parents and families in supporting their children’s learning at home are linked to higher student achievement.

Parent and family involvement at home has a protective effect. The more families support their children’s learning and educational progress, the more their children tend to do well in school and continue their education.

Families can and often do, have a positive influence on their children’s learning. Families of all cultural backgrounds, education, an income levels:

ü Encourage their children;

ü Talk with them about school;

ü Help them plan for higher education and

ü Keep them focused on learning and homework.

Category II

Effective program strategies to connect schools, families, and community.

Programs are welcoming, and address specific parent and community needs.

Programs that are effective in engaging diverse families recognize, respect, and address cultural and class difference.

Programs embrace a philosophy of partnership as collaborative enterprises among parents, school staff, and community members.

Category III

Parent and community organizing improve schools.

Engaging parents and families through special programs makes a difference.

Teacher outreach to parents relates to strong and consistent gains in student performance in both reading and math.

Outreach strategies include face to face meetings, sending materials home, and keeping in touch about progress.

Workshops for parents on helping their children at home were linked to higher reading and math scores.

Schools with highly rated partnership programs made greater gains on state tests than schools with lower-rated programs.

Strategies:

A. High performing schools engage families and the community.

Successful schools engage families from very diverse backgrounds and share three key practices:

Build collaborative relationships based on trust among teachers, families, and community.

Family needs as well as class and cultural difference are recognized and respected.

Partnerships are based on shared power and responsibility.

B. Organizing parents and community in these efforts holds schools accountable for results and differs from traditional parent involvement.

Parent, family and community organizing contribute to changes in schools:

Upgraded school facilities.

Improved school leadership and staffing.

Higher-quality learning programs for students.

New resources and programs to improve teaching and curriculum.

New funding for after-school programs and family supports.

Recommendations:

Recognize that all parents-regardless of income, education, or cultural background-are involved in their children’s learning and want their children to do well.

Programs prescribed and consider the educational level, language, culture and home situation of parents.

Provide programs prescribed and presented through a "cultural broker" who has background and life expectations similar to the parents and families.

Send materials on ways to help their child at home presented in parents’ languages.

Design programs that will support families to guide their children’s learning, from preschool through high school.

Transition activities including school tours, feeder school meetings and summer home visits.

Preschool: home visits, lending libraries, discussion groups and classes.

Elementary: interactive homework, parent workshops, regular teacher contact, learning packets, home visits

Middle and High School: explanation of courses and expectations; joint planning of programs for future information about post-secondary options, academic support and raising teens.

Develop the capacity of school staff to work with families.

· Give teachers time to plan and organize parent activities.

· Change the attitudes of school staff so that they recognize the advantages of teachers and parents working together.

· Stress personal contact with parents routinely and not only when there are problems.

Link efforts to engage families, whether based at school or in the community, to student learning.

· Parents and community members are treated as assets to the process of raising student achievement rather than liabilities.

· Meeting face-to-face with parents through home visits, in the community and/or at the school.

· Telephoning routinely.

· Take parents’ interests and needs into consideration when planning activities: Provide childcare, arrange carpools and encourage family members to send a substitute family member when necessary.

Focus efforts to engage families and community members on developing trusting and respectful relationships.

Make parents feel more welcome by creating a warm environment.

Create social trust through quality of staff to staff and teacher to parent relationships.

Parents are more likely to volunteer or attend activities when contacted by school staff members.

From A New Wave of Evidence: The Impact of School, Family, and Community Connections on Student Achievement. Henderson, Anne T. & Mapp, Karen L. (Austin, TX: National Center for Family & Community Connections with Schools: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, 2002) and An Action Guide for Community and Parent Leaders. Fege, Arnold F. & Smith, Andrew J. (Washington, DC: Public Education Network, 2002).

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