We Love Our Volunteer Readers!

  Welcome to all of you wonderful volunteers, we get most of the world’s work done. We have a limited population with the opportunity to volunteer with many other organizations and we appreciate the sacrifices you have made and will make throughout the school year. Reading to 3 and 4 years olds can be a serious challenge which requires everything from jumping up and down to making absurd faces and gestures during the reading process. The main way to keep the children engaged is to keep the story moving along at a good pace. Keep in mind that the classroom structure is designed by the teacher so just go with it. We are here to read, assist with reading skills, promote a love of books, and have a good time. The best part is that each child receives a copy of the book after you finish the story.

1.  All public-school volunteers or employees in the area must submit to fingerprinting and a criminal background check. Public schools will not accept volunteers who have been convicted of violent crimes or crimes against children. Cottonwood and Camp Verde have in house processing, with appointments at the District offices.

2.  Confidentiality – essentially everything you hear or see in a school setting is of a confidential nature and should never be shared. 

3.  Equal treatment – many of the children we serve are minorities or challenged. As a 

representative of VVFB you will not discriminate on any basis, race, color, gender, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, or disability.

4. We are guests in the classroom, some children can be disruptive, looking for attention. Try giving them a job, like turning a page or repeating a word or sound.

You each have an assigned school which you have agreed to read for. Your jobs are to contact the teacher or administrator for your school and agree on a date and time you will meet the classes. You will take the number of books for each classroom, read the book aloud using your best strategies for the age group. After discussing and questioning when you have held the children’s attention as long as you 

can, give each child a copy of the book to take home, have them ask someone at home to read it to them. 

This volunteer job takes about 2 hours a month from October through April, depending on the commute.

Important Note: We never take pictures without the teacher's consent that all parents have signed release forms. They know that the pictures will be used online. So sometimes classes will not have photos posted. Sadly, we have to protect some of the little ones.