Online database matches MUSD volunteers with classrooms

As budget cuts loom for the Maricopa Unified School District, volunteer coordinator Margaret Jackson is laying out a series of goals to transform the team of volunteers serving the district into a fine-tuned machine.

At the top of the list is a means to ensure every volunteer is registered in the district’s newly implemented electronic database. Volunteers can log on and select the type of volunteer work they are interested in doing for the district.

When a teacher or other staff member logs onto the database to request a volunteer, the criteria are matched and e-mails are sent to those who fit the qualifications.

“We sent out an email with this system earlier in the year saying we needed 18 volunteers for an event at Saddleback Elementary, and within two hours we had 25 responses,” Jackson said.

Jackson said she plans on encouraging potential volunteers to register through the online system.

While the electronic system will play an important role in voluntary services, another step Jackson said the department must take is improving communication regarding expectations.

“We will have a person come in and want to volunteer for five things off the bat and end up getting burnt out and not living up to any of the commitments,” Jackson said. “We need to slowly add items to these volunteers’ plates so that they are not overwhelmed.”

To help volunteers understand the teachers they help out, a member of Jackson’s team crafted an educator-to-volunteer dictionary that translates the confusing jargon heard in classrooms.

Jackson hopes these steps can improve on the success the volunteer services department enjoyed this past year.

“If we can connect well with the parents, they will help us fill the gaps created by eliminating positions,” Jackson said.

Staff photo