Education Blog by DonorNation.org Archives

San Diego School Volunteers by the Numbers

April 15, 2014 By Amber

We always say how San Diego’s incredible volunteers spend “countless hours” making a huge impact in the local community. From campus beautification projects and after-school programs to helping out in classrooms and volunteering for fundraisers, volunteers in San Diego are a tremendous, yet often invisible, workforce when it comes to being positive influences and role models for young children everywhere.

In honor of National Volunteer Week and National Volunteer Month, we did a little math to calculate just how many hours our standout San Diego School Volunteer of the Year nominees collectively spend volunteering their time each year to their neighborhood schools, and the results are quite astounding!

300 volunteers. 19,500 hours per month. 230,000 hours per year. $2 million worth of unpaid hours per year! That’s how much our San Diego School Volunteer of the Year Award nominees are worth (and much more)! If that’s not enough evidence to thank your school volunteers today, we just don’t know what is!

These incredible, tireless volunteers deserve a tremendous amount of recognition for the many hours they spend making schools in San Diego a better place for children to learn, play and thrive for years to come. Thank your school volunteers for their selfless dedication and hard work, and cast your vote for this year’s top school volunteer honor at donornation.org/award/vote to show just how much your school volunteers mean to you!

[DonorNation Edu-Blog]

Vote For School Volunteer of the Year!

March 25, 2014 By Amber

Voting for School Volunteer of the Year begins on March 24th! Make sure to encourage members of your community to cast their votes for your school volunteer at www.donornation.org/award/vote!

To cast your vote (between March 24 to April 24), visit www.donornation.org/award/vote, search for your favorite school volunteer by First Name or School Name, click on their Profile and then click Vote! Once you have voted, be sure to click on the social media buttons (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Linkedin or Email) to increase his or her chances of earning this year’s esteemed honor! Help spread the word about your favorite school volunteer to your family and friends!

Nomination categories are divided into three tiers based on each school’s student population. The School Volunteer of the Year Award Finalist categories include:

Tier 1: Schools with 400 enrolled students or less
Tier 2: Schools with 401-750 enrolled students
Tier 3: Schools with more than 750 enrolled students.

The top 10 finalists in each category resulting from the public voting phase will advance to the Selection Committee, comprised of seven prominent leaders in the San Diego community who will vet all 30 of the finalists and select one Grand Prize Winner, one First Runner-Up and one Second Runner-Up, based on the candidate’s nomination submission information.

In addition to advancing to the next phase in the selection process, this year’s candidates who receive the most votes in each category will earn a special honor in the School Volunteer of the Year Award People’s Choice category and earn valuable prizes from DonorNation and its award partners.

List of winners and prizes include:

Grand Prize Winner: The 2014 School Volunteer of the Year will receive a $5,000 donation for their school, one year of free groceries ($100 per week for 52 weeks) courtesy of Sprouts, and free season tickets to the La Jolla Playhouse.

First Runner-Up: The 2014 School Volunteer of the Year Runner-Up will receive a $2,500 donation for their school, six months of free groceries ($100 per week for 26 weeks) courtesy of Sprouts, and free season tickets to the La Jolla Playhouse.

Second Runner-Up: The 2014 School Volunteer of the Year Second Runner-Up will receive a $1,500 donation for their school, three months of free groceries ($100 per week for 13 weeks) courtesy of Sprouts, and free season tickets to the La Jolla Playhouse.

People’s Choice (3 Winners): Nominees with the most public votes from each category (Tier 1-3) will receive a $1,000 donation for their school and free season tickets to the La Jolla Playhouse.

All winners will receive Family Memberships to The New Children’s Museum.

Social media plays a vital role in the advancement of candidates to the selection committee phase. We encourage everyone out there to share information about their favorite candidate’s nomination and explain why he or she should be chosen as our esteemed School Volunteer of the Year. Encourage family and friends to vote for your favorite volunteer via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+, and whatever else you can think of to give your candidate an extra boost!

The winners of the 2014 School Volunteer of the Year Award will be announced at a spectacular evening event at the stunning Irwin Jacobs Hall in Sorrento Valley on Saturday, May 10^th, 2014. All nominees and their guests are welcome to the event free of charge, and they can expect an exciting evening filled with live music from the award-winning high school student choir Chamber Bravura, as well as highly acclaimed local acoustic artist Gus Mezza. Guests can also enjoy complimentary hors d’oeuvres and spirits, as well as the chance to socialize with fellow nominees and bask in the recognition these volunteers deserve!

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to stay tuned to the latest news and updates in this year’s San Diego School Volunteer of the Year Award. The official hashtag for updates about the awards is #DNVolunteerAward. Please use the hashtag to help spread the word about your favorite candidate’s nomination and to encourage everyone in your network to get voting!

For more information about the 2014 School Volunteer of the Year Award, visit www.donornation.org/award. To cast your vote, visit www.donornation.org/award/vote.

[DonorNation Edu-Blog]

Recess Without Rules – Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down?

March 24, 2014 By Amber

What would recess without rules look like?

Out with the old and in with the new school rules

One New Zealand primary school is breaking all the rules when it comes to child’s play. At the Swanson Primary School in Auckland, children enjoy a “no rules” recess. This laissez-faire approach to education means that the primary school students are permitted to climb trees, skateboard, get dirty or play contact sports without being reprimanded by teachers or chaperones.

These new no-rules recess began as an experiment two years ago by two New Zealand universities, Auckland University of Technology (AUT) and Otago University, undergoing research about the effects of active child’s play and learning. The results were shocking. Instead of the chaos that might be expected in this type of environment, the school has experienced fewer instances of bullying, serious injuries and vandalism and an increase in classroom concentration.

Because of the unexpected – yet positive – results, Swanson’s principal

Bruce McLachlan decided to rip up the rulebook permanently even after the study was completed.

“We want kids to be safe and to look after them, but we end up wrapping them in cotton wool when in fact they should be able to fall over,” he said in a TVNZ news article. “When you look at our playground it looks chaotic. From an adult’s perspective, it looks like kids might get hurt, but they don’t.”

By abandoning the recess rules completely, Swanson Primary School students experienced higher levels of creativity and imagination on the playground and increased motivation in the classroom.

“The kids were motivated, busy and engaged,” said McLachlan. “In my experience, the time children get into trouble is when they are not busy, motivated and engaged. It’s during that time they bully other kids, graffiti or wreck things around the school.”

Although many teachers and parents were initially horrified at the thought of throwing out the rulebook during recess, their views morphed once they saw the results.

“The great paradox of cotton-wooling children is that it’s more dangerous in the long-run,” said Grant Schofield, AUT professor of public health. “Society’s obsession with protecting children ignores the benefits of risk-taking.”

Included in those benefits are learning firsthand the consequences of certain actions on their own terms, Schofield said.

“You can’t teach them that. They have to learn risk on their own terms. It doesn’t develop by watching TV, they have to get out there,” he said. “It’s a no brainer. As far as implementation, it’s a zero-cost game in most cases. All you are doing is abandoning rules.”

The results of a no-rules recess may seem inconceivable, and Schofield himself admitted in an article in The Atlantic that the results of the study might not work out as well on playgrounds in the U.S.

Jessica Lahey, writer of The Atlantic article, said she is cautiously optimistic about the results of the study in New Zealand. Despite cries of support for more freedom on the playground, she said that American parents are more resistant to letting their child take risks and fail.

“When it comes to allowing their children to fail, or to wrestle with another kid on the playground with the risk of bruised limbs and egos hovering over recess like a black cloud, they are resistant,” she stated in the article. “For all our talk about daring greatly and the blessings of skinned knees while free-ranging our children, real change toward a more sane vision of childhood is going to require parents willing to see their own children take risks and get a little dinged up in the process.”

Let us know what you think about the concept of a no-rules recess. Can we throw out the rulebook in America with the same positive results? Would this work at your child’s school?

[DonorNation Edu-Blog]

Donor Nation: Save $$ with ‘Beach Bucks’ at Seaside Farmers Market

February 28, 2014 By My SD Moms

Every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the parking lot at Mission Bay High School comes alive with a vibrant lineup of fresh seasonal produce, the mouthwatering aroma of international dishes from mobile restaurateurs, and lively tunes by local musicians adding a little pep in the steps of passersby. Neighbors, chefs and gourmands alike stroll amid a colorful array of freshly-cut flowers and gourmet fare each week at the Seaside Farmers Market to check out the latest artisan crafts, sample exotic spices and scrumptious snacks, and enjoy the camaraderie of fellow beach locals, visitors and merchants.

With its abundance of offerings, the weekly Seaside Farmers Market never fails to excite. This month, DonorNation is teaming up with organizers of the dynamic market to offer a few unique opportunities to help raise money for local San Diego schools as well.

Purchase “Beach Bucks” to use like cash every Saturday!

If you’re a regular farmers market attendee, why not make the purchases you were already planning to make AND raise money for your local school at the same time? Beach Bucks vouchers are the way to do just that. Not only can you use Beach Bucks vouchers like cash at the Seaside Farmers Market, but 15% of your voucher price is donated directly to the neighborhood school of your choice, including Kate Sessions Elementary, Crown Point Music Academy, Pacific Beach Middle School, Barnard Asian-Pacific Language Academy, or Mission Bay High School. Raising money for your local school has never been so easy!

Here’s how it works:

1. Visit http://bit.ly/beachbucks

2. Click “Buy Now” on the dollar amount you wish to purchase. (Beach Bucks are sold in increments of $20 up to $80)

3. Bring your voucher to the information booth at the Seaside Farmers Market to trade in for your Beach Bucks.

Beach Bucks can be used just like cash at any booth in the market. If you aren’t already using Beach Bucks vouchers, you are leaving money behind that could be donated to your favorite school. Don’t miss out on such an easy opportunity to support local schools while you shop!

The Seaside Farmers Market takes place every Saturday in the Mission Bay High School parking lot, located at 2475 Grand Ave., from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. All of the proceeds from booth sales benefit Mission Bay High School.

DonorNation’s Beach Bucks vouchers benefit any Pacific Beach school of the buyer’s choice. If you feel good about giving back to local farmers and artisans in your community, you’ll feel like a rock star when you give back to your neighborhood school at the same time!

Nominations for DonorNation’s School Volunteer of the Year Award Closing Soon!

February 20, 2014 By My SD Moms

DonorNation’s School Volunteer of the Year Award DonorNation is excited to announce that the nomination period for the second annual School Volunteer of the Year Award ends February 28! Principals and directors of San Diego County schools are invited to nominate their school’s most dedicated volunteers for a chance to be honored as DonorNation’s 2013-14 School Volunteer of the Year and win valuable cash prizes for their school.

School volunteers come in all shapes and forms. Whether they have forged key relationships with local businesses or made outstanding contributions to their school’s academics, fundraising efforts, or community outreach, we want to hear about it! A School Volunteer of the Year nominee may devote countless hours to classroom learning, promote healthy lifestyle or environmental awareness programs for students, or rally parents to get involved in fundraising events and other school functions. Regardless of what form these volunteer activities take place, there are infinite ways that these unsung heroes devote their time, energy and talents to their children’s schools. DonorNation wants to shine a well-deserved spotlight on these school volunteers and honor them for their extraordinary efforts and unheralded contributions.

“School volunteers are the invisible backbone behind a strong school system in San Diego. Without the tireless efforts of these unsung heroes, our body of schools in San Diego would crumble,” said Karim Pirani, founder and CEO of DonorNation. “Our entire community is forever indebted to this assiduous group of selflessly devoted parent volunteers. They may never seek accolades or rewards for their often unseen generosity, but we want to honor them for their invaluable service to our local schools with this year’s School Volunteer of the Year Award.”

In addition to earning the great honor of being named as DonorNation’s 2013-14 School Volunteer of the Year, the winning nominee will win valuable cash prizes for their school. The Grand Prize Winner will receive a $5,000 donation to their school, the First Runner-Up will receive a $2,500 donation to their school, and the Second Runner- Up will receive a $1,500 donation to their school, all courtesy of DonorNation. Additional prizes will be awarded at the ceremony – please click here in March for an updated list of prizes.

During the nomination phase, only principals and school directors are permitted to submit entries. Nominees must be at least 18 years old and cannot be paid for their volunteer services. If you know of an extraordinary volunteer at your school who is deserves to be recognized for his or her selfless contributions, encourage your school’s principal to submit a nomination today!

To nominate, follow these simple steps:

Make sure your school is signed up at DonorNation by calling 858-271-7233 or visiting www.DonorNation.org.
Visit www.DonorNation.org/award before February 28, 2014.
Fill out the nomination form, including your information, the volunteer’s role at the school, and why he or she is deserving of this award.
Submit your nomination form online before midnight on Feb. 28, 2014.

Every day, volunteers change the lives of children, shape the face of school campuses, and help out where they are needed without complaint. It is time to recognize these selfless individuals and shine a light on all they do for San Diego’s local schools. Encourage your school principal or director to nominate a candidate today!

For more information about DonorNation or the School Volunteer of the Year Award, visit www.donornation.org/award or call 858-271-7233.

About the School Volunteer of the Year Award:

DonorNation’s School Volunteer of the Year Award is open to all San Diego County preschool through grade 12 schools, both public and private. The selection process for the award consists of three distinct phases:

Nomination Phase: From Jan. 14 – Feb. 28, 2014, each principal or director of every school in San Diego County, preschool through grade 12, public and private, is invited to submit the name of one (1) nominee from their school community who has made an outstanding contribution to the school. They will need to complete a brief nomination form and explain why their nominee deserves to be recognized. Nominees will be divided into three categories based on school population. Submissions will be accepted at www.donornation.org/award.

Public Voting Phase: On March 10, 2014, all of the nominees will be unveiled, and then it will be up to the public to decide who should advance to the Selection Committee. Each voter will be allowed to submit one vote between March 10 and April 11. The top 10 nominees from each category who receive the most votes, for a total of 30 nominees, will advance to the next Selection Committee phase. Voting will take place at www.donornation.org/award.

Selection Committee Voting: The week of April 14, 2014, after the public voting phase ends, a Selection Committee consisting of prominent San Diego residents will review the field of submissions and identify a Grand Prize Winner, First Runner-up and Second Runner-up. We will be announcing the names of the Selection Committee later this month.

On April 30, 2014, the Grand Prize Winner, First Runner-up and Second Runner-up will be announced on www.donornation.org/award and through other communication channels. An award presentation ceremony will shortly follow. Visit www.donornation.org/award in April for information about where and when the ceremony will take place.

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