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Guide for Volunteering with Primary Parents

Dear JPDS Parents,

Welcome to the 2009-2010 school year at JPDS!!

I am the President of Primary Parents, JPDS’s parent association, and, along with our Vice President/Treasurer, Carla Matusow, I am looking forward to another exciting year of learning, community and school ruach (spirit) at JPDS. Primary Parents is responsible for many important JPDS programs including teacher appreciation events, challah and flower deliveries; community-building events; room parents; pizza, box and birthday lunches; birthday books; all the fabulous JPDS clothing your children wear; various fundraisers and sales throughout the year, and so much more.

Did you know that Primary Parents …

…provides the challah your children enjoy at school Shabbat activities each Friday?

…honors our teachers and staff throughout the year with lunches, treats and gift cards?

…is self-supporting through dues, donations and minimal fundraising?

…is online???

It’s all true!

We are also pleased to provide our first ever Guide to Volunteering with Primary Parents. This guide contains brief descriptions of our programs and volunteer opportunities associated with each.

The success of all of the programs, on which many of us rely, depends in large part upon the participation of our community. See the “availability” note under each program to see what jobs match with the time you have available. You will see that most tasks can be done at your convenience. We want everyone to feel connected to our community, and volunteering is a terrific way to do that. Feel free to contact me or any program chair for more information. We hope you will volunteer as much as you can to make the 2009-2010 school year the most it can be -- for our students, staff, faculty and parents!

A few activities to watch for early in the year include our traditional first day Tea and Tissues for new families, the annual Fannie Mae Walk for the Homeless, our annual gift wrap fundraiser and the crowd-pleasing JPDS Coffeehouse/Talent Night. I look forward to meeting you and helping involve as many of you as possible in our wonderful community.

Warmly,

Debbie Lehrich
Email: debbielehrich@yahoo.com
(202) 244-1542

Programs

Primary Parents runs a variety of programs from community-building social events to fundraisers to the school's lunch program. Following is a brief description of each along with volunteer opportunities.

Teacher Appreciation

Chair: Julie Fisher

To acknowledge JPDS' most treasured resources - our teachers - Primary Parents provides many treats, lunches and other gifts throughout the year. The majority of dues collected go toward this effort as we continue to look for new and creative ways to give back to those who give so much to our children.

Volunteers needed to: Assemble teacher gifts and treats, order lunches, purchase and deliver birthday and gift cards.

Availability: All except lunch set up and delivery of gifts can be done from home at volunteer's convenience. Time commitment varies but usually is no more than 1-2 hours per event.

First Day Activities (Welcome Students/Tea and Tissues)

Chair: Tammy Lowengrub

Help us welcome new students for the first time and returning students back after summer break; give them a fresh pencil and help them find their rooms. Meanwhile, to ease the adjustment for the younger set, we offer a place for parents to relax with veteran JPDS parents and refreshments after drop-off on the first day.

Volunteers needed to:

Welcome students into the building, handing each a new pencil
Help lead students to their classrooms
Mingle in the multi-purpose room with parents of new or younger students and, when necessary, check on their children.
Availability: 1-3 hours on the first day of school.

Food Program (Birthday Lunch, Wednesday Classroom Pizza, Thursday Box Lunch)

Chair: Laurie Brumberg

One Wednesday each month, every student eats lunch in the Gottesman Auditorium and has an opportunity to meet other students and celebrate birthdays. On the other Wednesdays, pizza is available by order for children to enjoy in their classrooms. Box Lunch is available on Thursdays. Students eat lunch in their rooms with their classmates. Meat lunch options will be explored for Tuesdays and/or Fridays.

This is our biggest program and requires many people to make it happen.

Volunteers needed to:

Maintain database(s) of orders for all different lunches
Place orders for food
Check inventory
Order supplies
Recruit volunteers
Set up and serve at birthday lunch or receive/deliver lunches on other days
Research other options
Availability: Except for inventorying supplies and volunteering at birthday lunch, all tasks associated with the food program can be done from home at the volunteer's convenience. Birthday lunch is a 90-minute commitment, and lunch delivery is a commitment of an hour or less. For volunteers taking on responsibility for above tasks, commitment will be 2-3 hours per week through October, 1-2 hours per week thereafter.

Birthday Books

Chair: Samantha Shron

This program offers a wonderful way to tie celebrations to giving, to recognize a child on his or her special day, and to enhance classroom libraries, all at the same time.

Responsibilities include:

Obtaining student roster with class and birthday information
Obtaining wish lists from teachers
Ordering or purchasing books
Creating labels and applying to each book
Divide books for distribution and delivering to school
Availability: All except delivery of books can be done at volunteer's convenience.

Gift Wrap Fundraiser

Chair: Shelly Kupfer

Our annual (and very successful) gift wrap fundraiser is conducted in plenty of time for Chanukah gift wrapping! With Sally Foster, the school receives 50% of all orders.

Responsibilities include:

Obtaining and distributing materials by class.
Publicizing the fundraiser.
Collecting, tallying and sending in orders to vendor.
Tracking online orders.
Distribution of products to students.
Exploring other vendor options
Availability: All tasks can be done at volunteer's convenience(3-6 hours). Distribution of gift wrap must be done during school hours (1-2 hours).

Passover Candy

Chair: OPEN

Primary Parents' annual Passover candy sale is an annual favorite, and JPDS benefits with a percentage of all orders.

Responsibilities include:

Obtaining and distributing materials by class.
Publicizing the fundraiser.
Collecting, tallying and sending in orders to vendor.
Assembling each student's package.
Exploring other vendors options
Availability: All tasks can be done at volunteer's convenience (3-6 hours). Organization and distribution of candy must be done during school hours (2-4 hours).

JPDS Merchandise

Chair: Nicole Ugel

JPDS blue t-shirts for field trips, white polo shirts for Shabbat, sweatshirts for winter, tote bags, bears, hats, mugs, pens and pencils are all for sale at school events throughout the year.

Responsibilities include:

Ordering and managing merchandise.
Storing and inventorying merchandise.
Selling at all-school events
Availability: During school events (some are during school hours). Organizing and inventorying can be done at volunteer¡¯s convenience when building is open.

Students and parents glean produce from a local farm for delivery to food banks, in an effort organized by the Random Acts of Kindness Social Action Committee.
November 2008/Cheshvan 5769.

"Random Acts of Kindness" Social Action Committee

Chair: Karin Leff

Giving tzedakah (righteous giving) and performing other acts of chesed (loving-kindness) are an integral part of the JPDS curriculum and our mission of growing children who are knowledgeable, responsible Jews and citizens, deeply committed to the community at large. Social action events at JPDS provide parents and children with the opportunity to weave these values into their lives.

Responsibilities include:

Coordinating and planning various events consistent with the school's mission
Publicizing and securing necessary volunteers for all events.
Availability: Most planning, publicizing, etc. can be done at volunteer's convenience. Some events occur during school hours, others are after or on the weekends.

Coffeehouse/Parent-Teacher Talent Show

Chair: Janine Goodman

This fabulous, community-building event has become an instant, annual favorite with wide participation. We are planning more, similar community-building events throughout the year.

Responsibilities include:

Ordering/arranging for food and space.
Setting up and cleaning up of tables for food and other displays
Setting up tables and table decorations for eating/watching the performances
Availability: Before, during and after the Sunday evening of the event.

Eat & Earn Programs

Chair: Naimah Weinberg

JPDS families and friends earn money for Primary Parents while shopping at their favorite grocery stores which then give a percentage of the total purchase to JPDS.

Responsibilities include:

Contacting stores/restaurants to ask how to set up a program with them.
Completing paperwork required for JPDS to join and receive benefits.
Publicize details on participation to the JPDS community.
Track totals earned and reporting to the chair.
Availability: Most tasks can be done at volunteer's convenience. (2-3 hours in summer or fall to set up program, 1 hour or less per month thereafter.)

Room Parents/Outreach

Chair: Annette Levey

This program offers a great way to get to know your child's teacher as well as the other parents in the class. Room Parents act as the liaison between the school and the parents. It is truly an honor to represent your child's class in this way.

Responsibilities include:

Organizing class social.
Coordinating assistance to classroom teachers when needed.
When necessary, making phone calls or sending e-mails in to notify of important school news, remind of upcoming events or help secure volunteers
Coordinating meals for families in need in their class.
Availability: No activities need to be done at school or during school hours; nearly all tasks (1-2 hours/month) can be accomplished at volunteer's convenience.

Lice Checkers

Chair: Felice Roggen

Primary Parents Lice Checkers screen students near the beginning of school and after major breaks.

Volunteers needed to:

Check for lice
Serve as "runners" to bring kids to stage for checks or to office as necessary
Check inventory of supplies
Follow up with affected families
Availability: 2-3 hours shifts over 3-4 successive days of checking and running must be done during school hours at school. Other tasks can be done at volunteer's convenience.