Volunteering

Why Volunteer?

It's spiritually fulfilling
You'll meet your child's classmates
You'll get to know the faculty and staff better
You'll help keep tuition down
You'll meet other parents and make new friends
You can share your hobby or special talent
Your child will be proud of you

Saint Christopher Academy sees parents as important partners in the education and development of children. The school and its parents share a common mission – to foster each child’s academic success, emotional well-being, and spiritual growth. Working together, the school and its parents can create an exceptional educational, social and moral experience for every child. Saint Chris offers a wide variety of volunteer opportunities, including before school activities, during school events and programs, and after school and at-home options. Please take a moment to read the descriptions below of some of our most common volunteer opportunities!

How to Get Started Once you’ve read the descriptions below, click HERE to go to the Volunteer Interest form and sign up for any activities/groups you are interested in! For additional questions, please contact Advancement Coordinator Lorrice Bedard at 882-7011 or [email protected]

Safe Haven -- Diocesan Child Safety RequirementsAll volunteers who work regularly with students in the Diocese of Manchester must fulfill the following requirements:

Visit the Diocese of Manchester volunteer webpage HERE and complete a Diocese of Manchester Volunteer Application. The Diocese will forward your application to the school;
Complete background checks for all states in which you have resided during the past 5 years. (Links to background checks are listed on the Diocesan volunteer webpage.) The background check form must be printed, notarized, and returned to the school. Do NOT include payment with the form;
Complete child abuse awareness training online through the Safe Haven training site by following the directions HERE;
Read and acknowledge our diocesan Code & Policy (you will complete this at the end of your online training). You may print out the completion certificate, but it is not necessary. The school receives automatic notification of your completion of the training.

The forms and training should be completed before you begin your work with students at the school (but no more than 30 days before beginning your work.) Employment/volunteer eligibility is contingent upon the results of the background check results.

Before and During the School Day Volunteer Opportunities

Auction Committee

The Saint Chris Annual Auction is THE biggest fundraiser and social event of the year at Saint Christopher Academy! This fun night out for parents and friends of Saint Chris features a silent auction, a fabulous dinner, plenty of time to socialize, and a thrill-a-minute live auction. The committee spends the months leading up to the Auction planning the evening, soliciting donations to auction, helping with class projects, and recruiting attendees. Meetings are held once a month on Friday mornings for most of the year; additional meetings are needed as the event gets closer.

Chess, Checkers and Cribbage Club

One of the unique opportunities for students here at Saint Christopher Academy is the Chess, Checkers and Cribbage Club. This program offers a safe, low stress environment for children to learn and enjoy new games, while engaging in a social activity that is fun for all. The program is open to students of all grades. Children play weekly with classmates and learn at their own pace. We encourage parents to join us and learn the moves. This in turn gives you the opportunity to play at home with your children, which quickly improves everyone’s skills and offers yet another way to connect with loved ones. The Chess, Checkers and Cribbage Club meets weekly before school on Fridays.

Drama Club

The Drama Club offers all children in grades 3 thru 8 the opportunity to express their creativity through acting or as part of the stage crew. This experience gives children a chance to show their dramatic side, funny side or to just overcome shyness. Rehearsals will take place over several months, culminating in the performance of a live musical performance on stage at the upper campus! There are several ways to volunteer for the Drama Club, and time commitments will vary based on type of job:

- - Rehearsal Help: The kids learn their parts best in small groups, so we need lots of help at rehearsals! No acting skill necessary!
  - Costume Design: Our budget is small so we always need as many sewers as possible for costumes.
  - Set Design: We always need things made for our set, so if you are a builder or crafty, we need you.
  - Set-Up & Clean-Up: Crews for the night of the show.

Volunteer Sign-Up's will take place once rehearsals have begun! More information is available from music teacher Laura Daigle.

Faith Outreach Committee

The goal of the Faith Outreach Committee is to assist teachers and the school in providing a spiritually enriching environment for our children. Click HERE for more information about the activities of the Faith Outreach Committee.

Hot Lunch Volunteer

Let’s do lunch! Our Hot Lunch program is our biggest volunteer effort…and one of our most rewarding! Students love to see their parents and grandparents during the school day, and parents love knowing that our students are getting a nutritious meal every day (that they don’t have to pack!). The program needs many, many volunteers to operate smoothly. No experience is necessary – we will train you. Time commitment to serve lunch is usually once a month. You pick the day of the week that fits your schedule best, and we’ll take it from there!

Popcorn

Moms, Dads, Grams and Gramps…all are invited to help us pop and serve popcorn to our lower campus students! The popcorn program is a win-win for our students – they get one of their favorite healthy snacks and the proceeds from the sales go to help our school. This is a great opportunity for those who don’t have a lot of free time, as the time commitment is once a month on Fridays from 8:40 a.m. to 11:00.

After School/Evening Volunteer Opportunities

Christmas Shopping for Kids

This great tradition allows all of the children in the school the opportunity to shop for their families in a non-threatening, kid-friendly atmosphere featuring gifts from $1 to $6. Kids have a great time shopping, and volunteers really get into the Christmas spirit! Volunteers are needed to plan the event, shop for merchandise, and host the event.

FIRST Lego League

Each fall, Saint Christopher enters a team in the FIRST Lego League (FLL) competition. Boys and girls in 4 th through 8th grades create a team and design a robot to compete in a nationwide challenge. Parent volunteers guide the students through the design, build, and competition phases, which culminate at regional competition in December. This program is excellent for developing creativity, team building, task management, teamwork, and working in a competitive environment. FLL focuses and rewards more than the competition, including sportsmanship, creativity, spirit, team aesthetics, and more. Weekly meetings occur after school; the final competition is on a Saturday.

Parent Group

ALL parents are automatically members of the Parent Group and have the opportunity to get involved with fun and educational enrichment programs for our students and wonderful community events for our families! It is a truly rewarding experience to witness the joy on the children’s faces during these events. Among the many programs and activities the Parent Group coordinates are:

- - Used Book and Uniform Sale – parents donate used books and uniforms which find new homes with our students.
  - End of the Year Barbecue- free, fun event for students, parents, faculty, and new families.
  - Special Enrichment Guests – cool visitors to our school, including the wildlife and bird programs, local weatherman, storytellers, and more!
  - Teacher Appreciation Events – teachers enjoy fabulous meals and goodies, in thanks for all of their hard work over the school year.
  - Christmas Tree Lighting -- Christmas is extra special at Saint Chris and our evening Christmas Tree Lighting is one of the best family holiday events around!

The Parent Group meets several times during the year in the school Library. If you are unable to attend the meetings, there are lots of other ways to get involved. Please feel welcome to participate in any way that fits into your schedule.These are just a few ways to participate:

- - Volunteer to assist at individual activities listed above.
  - Write monthly Parents Group updates for the school newsletter
  - Recommend new enrichment programs
  - Bake/cook for Teacher Appreciation events

STEM Committee

The STEM Committee provides the guidance and resources necessary to inspire and empower students to become confident lifelong learners with a passion for science, technology, engineering and math. The Committee develops a vision for Saint Christopher Academy’s STEM program and, based on an evaluation of existing resources, programs and curriculum, identifies and prioritizes gaps where resources are needed to achieve the STEM vision. Meetings occur in the evening. Parents are also invited to participate as one-time guest speakers in our STEM-related classes and extracurricular groups. If you’d like to share your STEM-related profession or hobby, our students would love to hear from you!

At Home Volunteer Opportunities

Sunshine Math and Where in the World

Both of these enrichment programs allow students who choose to participate the opportunity to do independent work in Math and Social Studies. Students take home weekly or monthly worksheets, dependent on the program, and return them to school completed. Volunteers are needed to copy, distribute, collect and correct the students’ papers, as well as track student progress. Work may be sent home for volunteers to complete, so this is a great opportunity for those with a busy daytime schedule.