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Archived
FOSS Newsletter #18
Fall 2001 |
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Evergreen's Volunteer Project: FOSS Kit Inventory
By Leigh Agler, FOSS Developer, Anacortes, Washington
"Hey, volunteers can inventory the kits. It will be easy!"
This appears to be a simple solution to the problem of how
to inventory hands-on kits at the school site before they
are picked up for replenishment. A hearty individual volunteer
can brave the task for a while—at least until he or she realizes
that this can entail hundreds of kits, thousands of items,
and schools scattered throughout the region! All you need
is a good system. This is the tale of one successful volunteer
project that works for the teachers, the volunteers, and the
district, all of which contributes to quality science for
each student.
Sharry Monroe, the manager of the Instructional Resource Center
(IRC) from the Evergreen School District in Washington, recognized
that site-based inventory would be a problem deserving of
careful attention. At Evergreen, the IRC contracts with a
Science Materials Center (SMC), which is responsible for resupplying
and distributing kits for several districts. Sharry realized
that she would first need to meet with all the parties concerned
and delineate who was responsible for what. School principals,
custodians, teachers, district staff and staff from the SMC
were all brought together to work out the process for using
volunteers to inventory kits. Everything was clarified, from
"who schedules the inventories?" to where the volunteers
leave their purses and get their coffee. The responsibilities
of the teachers were kept as simple as possible: teach, note
any missing items when the kit arrives, teach the unit, and
at the end, package up any broken items, list missing ones,
and return the materials to the kit. The volunteers would
then inventory the kits thoroughly before they were returned
to the Materials Center for replenishment. The volunteers’
task was important in several ways. Missing items could be
retrieved from classrooms before the kits are shipped off,
teachers appreciated the help, and teachers who were not using
their kits thoroughly could be identified and given additional
support in teaching science.
The next step was to identify a location in each of the 23
schools that could be used three times a year for the inventory
day. Sharry knew that it would be important to inventory the
kits before they left the school site, so that classes could
have a second chance to search for any missing items.
Then there were the volunteers to recruit. Volunteers were
recruited by talking with teachers and placing announcements
in school bulletins and community newsletters. The nature
of the inventory task makes this especially suitable for people
from the community that would like to make a difference by
doing volunteer in the schools and yet cannot easily make
a regular commitment to a classroom. When the recruits come
to help with the inventory, they've joined a small party of
enthusiastic volunteers. By the end of the day, they leave
with the satisfaction of having inventoried a mountain of
kits that have been well-used by hundreds of budding scientists,
and are now ready to be resupplied for more investigations.
Experienced volunteer advance to volunteer project leaders.
Project leaders take care of everything from arranging the
timing of lunch (provided by the IRC), notifying the inventory
volunteers and school custodians of the volunteer days, and
welcoming the volunteers. Three project leaders share the
tasks at 23 school sites. Sharry has put together a detailed
instruction sheet and "to do" list for the project
leaders, making this a job that a volunteer would feel comfortable
taking on.
Sharry has kindly agreed to share her efforts with plans and
checklists with others who are considering a similar project.
Sharry Monroe can be reached at smonroe@egreen.wednet.edu. |
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