Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools has changed the name of their volunteer program to VISTA – Volunteers In Schools Targeting Achievement.
“We’ve had thousands of volunteers serve our students over the years,” said Dr. Ann Levett, Superintendent, “and we are grateful for all of them! When the pandemic hit, those volunteers were prevented from coming into our schools and it’s been challenging to regain the momentum. However, we are engaging volunteers full scale now. The time is right to enhance our brand and place a greater focus on the most important part of the program – the ‘volunteer’!”
Volunteers perform vital roles in the life of a school. Volunteers can help in classrooms as well as on the playing field; they can perform duties in the front office or around the grounds. “One thing that is really top of mind for teachers right now is the value of our volunteers in reading to our students,” said Bernadette Ball-Oliver, Deputy Superintendent of Teaching and Learning at SCCPSS. “Our Literacy Task Force has recommended 90 minutes of reading per day for students in grades K – 6. Having volunteers available to assist students in reading will continue to be a key success indicator.”
Volunteering isn’t just good for the school system; volunteering has proven beneficial for the volunteers as well. One of the more well-known benefits of volunteering is the impact on the community. Volunteering allows you to connect to your community and make it a better place. Volunteering also provides many benefits to both mental and physical health. The social contact aspect of helping and working with others can have a profound effect on your overall psychological well-being. Just knowing that you are helping a child can have an enormous impact on the volunteer.
Volunteers in Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools must register online in the volunteer portal. Look for the VISTA button on the website, sccpss.com. Volunteers begin by filling out the application. All volunteers are screened with a background check. Once approved, a volunteer can log in to the portal and peruse the opportunities available at each school in the district.
If you have questions about volunteering at a Savannah-Chatham County Public School, visit us online at vista.sccpss.com or call the Communications Office at (912) 395-5538.
