Why Volunteer? | ¿Por qué ser voluntario?

• Help build our community
• Gain professional teaching experience
• Augment your resume
• Broaden your horizons
• Flexible schedule times
• Connect with your neighbors
• Helps people acquire important skills
• Adquirir experiencia docente profesional
• Aumenta tu currículum
• Ampliar tus horizontes
• Horarios flexibles
• Conéctate con tus vecinos
• Ayuda a las personas a adquirir habilidades importantes

Program Details

Park City Community Education:  Good Neighbors Program Works To Meet the Needs of Greater Park City 

Park City School District believes that good neighbors build great communities. In 2015, the Community Education Department developed a program that supports the vision of care and educational well-being of our community.  By extending the mission of PCSD, to support all learners in their pursuit of educational excellence and to include adults learning English, many for the first time, PCSD champions not only our children but also our families.  In this helpful endeavor, Park City Community Education hosted, supported, and met the needs of the local community. Thus, the Good Neighbors Program was created. 

As a premier education institution, Park City School District expanded its reach and assisted families for whom English is an additional language rather than the primary language spoken in the home.  While our youth are the face of our future, our families provide the foundation for our students’ well-being.  A confident and secure family leads to a confident and secure youth. 

The identified need for adult language learner support was an opportunity to extend Park City Community Education’s ability to provide academic excellence to the community.  The program’s purpose was to provide instruction and support beyond the classroom walls, engaging the families of our students. Because English is not the first language for 20% of the adults in the area, Park City Community Education provided support for adults to be able to learn English with the help of English-speaking neighbors.  The Good Neighbors Program highlights the giving nature of our entire community in supporting one another. 

With the outcome of increased English Language acquisition in mind, PCSD’s Community Education Department founded the Good Neighbors Program. This program simply matched our community’s English-speaking volunteers with neighbors who wanted to learn English. Adults extended care, compassion, and commitment of time to support our non-native English speakers. Volunteers and learners were then given flexibility in determining where and when to meet as partners in this educational journey.  PCSD’s Community Education Department worked to find as many good neighbor volunteers as were needed to meet the needs of the community.  Because ours is a caring community, volunteers emerged enthusiastically to support our families through real world practice and experience in working with the English language. 

English is a notoriously difficult language, especially for adults who have spoken a different language their entire lives. Considering the challenges to both learner and volunteer, the Community Education department worked diligently to ensure the program was as effective and as supportive as possible for the adult learners. Throughout its development, the program had over thirty successful pairings of volunteers and students.  

The Community Education Department, through programmatic evaluation, determined that more could be done to improve effectiveness in outcomes and offer a more purposeful and meaningful experience for adult learners.  In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Community Education Department pushed forward to improve, revise and expand the Good Neighbors Program. In the 2021-2022 school year, English-speaking volunteers will be matched with students who are currently enrolled in the PCSD Adult Education, English as a Second Language (ESL) classes. Instructors from the adult ESL classes will recommend students to the Good Neighbors Program and those students will be matched with a volunteer who has similar interests in promoting community welfare and acquisition of the English language for non-native speakers. 

Under the expanded vision of the Park City Community Education Department, volunteers will fill an additional need this year by providing support to students in their ESL class homework assignments. ESL Instructors will assign bi-weekly homework in class, and volunteers will help their students complete the assignments. Students and volunteers will be able to continue setting their own agenda, focusing on subjects the student needs help with the most. Subjects of “help sessions” will include assistance in areas extending beyond the classroom, including things such as help understanding the Driver License manual in order to prepare for the test, filling out rental or job applications, doing practice employment interviews, studying for the citizenship test or simply meeting up to practice communication skills.  Real world, practical application is a hallmark of a successful program.  PCSD’s Community Education Department will provide both support to volunteers and all of the instructional materials needed for any course of study. 

As one of the many ways the Park City School District finds creative solutions to support learning, the Good Neighbors Program is now encouraging volunteers and students to form a book club as a way to improve English reading and conversation skills. These book club groups may consist of one volunteer working with several students or there may also be a group of volunteers and students making plans to meet together monthly. Books and discussion points will be provided, ensuring that the books are at the proper reading level for the students. 

The Good Neighbors Program demonstrates the Park City School District’s commitment as an educational institution to provide opportunities for academic growth and uplift all learners in their own personal educational pursuits. As Park City School District continues to strive to build bridges with our greater community, we express gratitude for the strength of our Miner community and the many generous volunteers and willing learners who have come together to bring our vision to fruition. We are Miners Strong!

Spanish 

Contact | Contacto

For more information on Good Neighbors, contact Alison Taylor at (435) 615-0209, ataylor@pcschools.us

Para obtener más información sobre buenos vecinos, comuníquese con Alison Taylor at (435) 615-0209, ataylor@pcschools.us