Dear Madrona Community,
This is a topic I’ve been thinking about for a while. At the MIT meeting on Wednesday night, I ineloquently began ex- pressing my thoughts about volunteerism. I’d like a chance to share my observations and thoughts here in a more orga- nized way.

First off, THANK YOU so much to each of you who spend time in our classrooms helping teachers. Every moment you spend in the classroom is a moment given back to our teachers to give to our students. THANK YOU so much to those of you who take work to do at home for our teachers. Again, that gives back time to teachers so they can spend more time with our students. THANK YOU to all the volunteers who help out at after school events or who bring food in, or who go on field trips. None of these things can happen without you. I hope you know how much your time is appreciat- ed by all.
Spending time volunteering during after school activities means that I’ve made new friends that I otherwise may have never met. Quite honestly, that’s probably the biggest reason I enjoy being active on MIT. What is better than hanging out with friends while benefitting our kids?

You all know Madrona offers greatness our kids because of the volunteers. We really do offer something for everyone. Do you love kids? We’ll find something that allows you to work with them directly such as at Bear Scare or STEM night. Do you prefer spending time with adults? Let’s get you involved in the Art Auction or Community Building. Don’t like people at all? Perhaps helping with copying or putting together Welcome Packets suits you better. If you aren’t sure where you might fit, come listen in on a few meetings. I bet there is something that would interest you.

In my 6 years at Madrona, I’ve watched the attendance our MIT meetings decrease. This means we see fewer and few- er people volunteering, especially for extra-curricular type events. This puts incredible stress on our committee chairs to not know if enough volunteers will help run their event. In the end, every event comes together successfully and then we all laugh about the “Madrona way.” But the reality is that it’s getting harder to find enough volunteers to make all of our events happen. We need to start pulling together as a community. Let’s make these events fun to create by supporting our chair people. Read the weekly email from MIT (now known as Bear Necessities!) so you know what is going on. Put your name down on the Sign-Up Genius as soon as it come out. If there isn’t a time that works for you, email the chair person and ask in what other capacity they need help. If you don’t want to bake a cake to bring in, send an email to the coordinator and ask if a couple of bucks can be sent in for someone else to make a purchase. Don’t be embarrassed to reach out. We always want to include everyone and sometimes we need help knowing what we can to do to help ac- commodate you.

We would love to see more people at our MIT meetings. Bring a friend if you don’t want to come alone. Make sure to come up and say hi. I promise we won’t force you to sign up for anything. I understand that listening to the business of school isn’t terribly exciting. But what is exciting is having a say in what happens at your school, getting to know the people you see in the pick-up line every day and making new friends. You might come to realize it’s more fun than you think it will be.

I’d love to hear what it would take to get you involved. Please email me at mitvicechair@gmail.com

Thank you,
Molly Tobias
MIT Vice-Chair, Interim Chairperson.