Positive Connections

Volunteers Supporting Schools As:

• Tutors
• Mentors
• Helping Hands
• Site Council
• Members
• School Partners

Positive Connections What?

The Purpose

• To develop a school volunteer-support program that meets the needs of students, parents, staff, and community.
• To identify participants and clarify their roles in the school volunteer program.
• To establish a collaborative system that matches the needs of USD 259 to community resources.

Our Goals

• Supplement the efforts of professional staff and provide human resources to enrich the educational experiences of students.
• Assist with organization of people and resources to support students, parents, teachers, and staff.
• Provide outreach to the community.
• Provide screening, training, support, and ongoing recognition for all volunteers

Mission Statement

Positive Connections will make use of volunteer talents and resources—extending and enriching educational programs in order to increase student achievement.

Positive Connections Why?

USD 259 staff, in conjunction with support from the Positive Connections Task Force, developed Positive Connections to support school volunteers. This support includes:

• Accessible training for volunteers.
• Task specific activities.
• Enhanced security that benefits the students and volunteers:
  • Registration of volunteers.
  • Sign-in procedures.
  • Screening.
• Each school is encouraged to identify a site contact to:
  • Recruit and register volunteers.
  • Provide orientation and training.
  • Serve as a resource to volunteers.
  • Submit data for volunteer database.
  • Support recognition events.

Positive Connections How?

1. All volunteers must fill out a Positive Connections registration form.
2. Volunteers are assigned to a school and area of volunteer service.
3. Volunteers working directly with students are screened, ensuring the safety of students and volunteers.
4. Volunteers participate in orientation and training.
5. Volunteers must sign-in each time in the school office.
6. Site contacts submit hours recorded by volunteers to the at Positive Connections
   office at Focht ISC.
7. Positive Connections supports district and site volunteer recognition activities.
8. Information on Positive Connections volunteers, hours, supporting partners, and student success is reported to school staff.

How can you help? Volunteer! Register today!

Positive Connections History

The Positive Connections Community-Based Team was organized in May of 2002 as a city-wide collaborative initiative to support school volunteers, tutors, and mentors. The goal was to provide a more efficient system to support volunteers, volunteer site contacts, and schools. A coordinated collaborative volunteer system between Wichita Public Schools and the community was designed to support students by creating a mechanism to connect district and community resources.

Various USD 259 programs along with more than 100 agencies, businesses, and organizations met for more than 18 months to identify the first steps in fully utilizing all community resources to support children in need of tutoring or mentoring. Key components in that planning involved:

• Program and staff roles
• Marketing and recruitment
• Registration and screening
• Orientation and training
• Procedures and utilization
• Recognition
• Evaluation

During the initial year of operation, over 1,800 volunteers received training and screening in more than 77 schools. A master database was established to track volunteer information and volunteer hours.

This coordinated effort helps to identify internal and external partner specific requirements and supports volunteer management of activities which include tutors, mentors, classroom helpers, and helping hands. Positive Connections is a comprehensive system for all school volunteers supporting student achievement.

The Positive Connections approach allows more consistent and intensive training for all volunteers and an efficient and organized approach to site recruitment, management, and recognition of volunteers.

For Additional Information Contact:

Debi Corrigan
USD 259 Volunteer Coordinator
Focht Instructional Support Center
412 S. Main
Wichita, KS 67202
phone: (316) 973-5159
email: dcorrigan@usd259.net