Volunteer Opportunities

Helping students succeed academically through positive relationships

Participating Students - Small groups of students who benefit from after school tutoring and enrichment. 

Volunteer's Role - Work one-on-one or in small groups with elementary students to help students successfully complete assignments/activities and encourage academic achievement.

Training and Support - Training and orientation provided by Wayzata Public Schools staff and intervention teachers. 

Ongoing Support - Ongoing, on-site support provided by Wayzata Public Schools intervention teachers. District staff are always on-site when program is running.

Time Commitment - 1.5 hours twice per week in the afternoon.

Helping students learn to love to read by helping them become successful readers

Participating Students - Struggling readers in our elementary schools

Volunteer's Role - Listen to and support students as they read aloud from books recommended by the school's reading specialist and/or teacher. Many books have been purchased just for this program. Each volunteer is matched to a specific school and then a single student at that school, with whom they read for the entire school year.

Training and Support - We provide reading resources, an easy curriculum, and suggestions for customizing to meet your personal style. We host a formal kick-off training session for all program volunteers, led by our district's literacy specialist. After we match volunteers to specific schools, each school's principal and reading specialist hosts an orientation for volunteers in their school. They also set up one-on-one meetings with individual volunteers and give you a tour of the school site. All books and materials are provided.

Ongoing Support - We email all volunteers a monthly newsletter with program updates and helpful tips.

Time Commitment - 20-30 minutes a week, November-May.

Number of Volunteers - More than 145 community members volunteer for this program each year — most of them don't even have children in our elementary schools!

Helping our youngest learners grow through play

Participating Students - Children between the ages of birth and 10 years old

Volunteer's Role - Volunteers engage in play with children while parents meet with a parent educator. Assist with clean up following class.

Training and Support - Provided by Wayzata Public Schools Early Learning School and Interfaith Outreach and Community Partners

Time Commitment - 1.5 hours once per week. 

Helping elementary school students develop an appreciation for visual art

Participating Students - Most of our K-5 classrooms participate in this program.

Volunteer's Role - Go into elementary school classrooms to share the Partners in Art curriculum with students.

Training and Support - Formal training for all of our Partners in Art volunteers is held each September. Each school building has a Partners in Art Coordinator. All curriculum and artwork provided.

Time Commitment - Monthly (October-May) classroom presentation of 20 minutes to an hour depending on grade level, plus preparation. For some classrooms, volunteers choose to partner with others to share the responsibility and reduce the time commitment.

Requirements - No formal art education or previous experience required — just a desire to be in the classroom and an interest in learning about art.

Curriculum - There is a seven year rotating curriculum.

Artwork

Number of Volunteers - More than a hundred people volunteer their time each year to bring this program to our students!

Volunteer to work with adults in our Adult Basic Education (ABE) who are trying to improve their literacy skills.

Participating Students - Adults 17 years of age and older

Volunteer's Role - Helping adult learners with English language acquisition; tutor students in reading, writing, math skills and GED subject areas

Training and Support - Provided by the Minnesota Literacy Council

Time Commitment - 1-3 hours per week for six months

To volunteer, contact Cheryl Lubinski, ABE Lead Teacher/Manager at Cheryl.Lubinski@wayzataschools.org or 763-745-6034