Siegel: Volunteer opportunities abound in Maricopa schools

By Murray Siegel

The city of Maricopa is the envy of many cities when it comes to what our citizens do as volunteers. There are more police volunteers than sworn officers within the Maricopa Police Department. The Maricopa Fire Department has its Community Emergency Response Teams where civilians are trained to assist MFD in emergencies.

This is one area within the city where there are a number of volunteers, but many more are needed. This article is written to entice residents of the city to consider lending a hand at a school within the Maricopa Unified School District (MUSD).

What are volunteers already doing in our schools?
■ An enhanced math program at Butterfield Elementary
■ Meet the Masters – an art program at Pima Butte, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz and Saddleback elementary schools
■ A therapy dog program at Butterfield
■ Robotics clubs at all of the schools
■ Choral music programs at all elementary schools
■ Reading and story time at school libraries
■ Intramural basketball, soccer and track at all elementary schools

As helpful as these programs are, the schools need even more assistance. The areas where community volunteers are needed are:
■ School libraries
■ General office help
■ Tutoring in all subjects at all grade levels
■ Cafeteria and playground supervision
■ Sports booster organizations and parent-teacher groups

If you have a bit of time and could assist in any of these areas, or if you possess a skill that you would like to share with students, contact Jim Irving, MUSD’s volunteer coordinator, at [email protected].

There is no need to commit a large amount of time. All the schools ask is that a volunteer is available at a set time on a particular day or set of days each week. There are many members of our community who have experiences and talents that, if shared with students, would be highly beneficial to those children. If you are one of those folks, contact Jim. The schools will benefit, as will the students, and you, the individual volunteer, will receive significant benefit.

Murray Siegel is a Maricopa resident. He has a PhD in Math Ed and 42 years of teaching experience. He and his wife Sharon are volunteer teachers of advanced math classes at Butterfield Elementary School.

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This column appears in the November issue of InMaricopa.