Volunteer Opportunities
One of the reasons Irving School is such a vibrant and special place is our awesome volunteers! Volunteering is a great way to meet other Irving families, get to know your student’s friends and teachers, raise funds for enrichment programs, and strengthen our school community.
Descriptions of each committee, along with current contact information for the committee heads, are listed below. If you’d like more information, you can email the committee head directly, or contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Michelle Le Hew Ahring. You can also use this form.
If you might be available for occasional projects during the school year, email Michelle Le Hew Ahring and she’ll contact you when extra volunteers are needed.
PTO Volunteer Committees
Academic Fair
Help with publicity, setup, and supervision of this spring academic fair.
Art Fest
Help coordinate and set up for this student art and music event in the spring (May 14, 2020).
Emily Tague
Book Fair
Help with the fall and spring sales of high-quality paperback and hardcover books. Spring dates are 4/20 to 4/23/2020.
Jean Dawson
Box Tops for Education
Help committee chairs cut and count box tops.
Jaime Moran and Barbara Portaczewski
Bulletin Boards and Weekly Packets
Organize and display materials for the bulletin board near the main office, assemble weekly information packets to go home with students. Marisa Martinez
Cookie Crumble
Coordinate publicity, solicit donations of home-baked cookies, set up, and/or clean up for this early winter fundraiser. The Cookie Crumble this year is 12/7/19. Jaime Moran and Barbara Portaczewski
Craft Fair
Coordinate publicity, solicit artists and crafters, set up, and/or clean up for this event, held in conjunction with the Cookie Crumble (12/7/19). Susan Raphael
Craft Services
Organize and host fall chili lunch and spring luncheon (5/1/2020) for Irving staff, as well as the WORM Club appreciation breakfast in the spring.
Jennifer Carizey and Jessica Ocken
Dancing for Desserts
Coordinate donations of desserts, help run this event at the Fun Fair, and coordinate storage and pickup of desserts after they are won.
Nicole Daniel
Diversity and Inclusion Committee – DivInc
Coordinate events and programs that promote a diverse and inclusive educational environment for all Irving students.
Mechelle Wesley and Lettie Sullivan
Eagle Extras
Assist in scheduling and publicizing after-school art, sports, and theater activities, and other fun and educational programs. Find out more here.
Kate Fishburne and Kelli Harsch,
Fifth Grade Send-Off and Beginning/End-of-Year Parties
Organize special fundraising events and presentation of class gift for fifth-grade students and families.
Lauren VanderBerg and Jean Dawson
Fun Fair
Help with this winter indoor special event on 2/22/20 that includes games, prizes, entertainment, and food.
Kara Sakellaris and Nick Sakellaris
Fun Fair Class Baskets
Organize parents and teachers to provide donations for class baskets and supervise basket auction during fun fair.
Jessica Ocken and Lettie Sullivan
Fun Fair Teacher Parties
Organize teacher and staff donations to silent auction and supervise bids during fun fair.
Lauren VanderBerg
Fun Run
Coordinate this October fundraiser for Irving students. Dawn Goulet and Melissa DeJesus-Vasquez
Garden Club
Brainstorm and execute fun and educational gardening-related activities – no previous experience required! This is an on-going, year-round club that meets after school on Friday that is busiest in the fall and spring.
Denise Frank
Homework Helper
Help fourth-grade and fifth-grade students with homework, 3:00 – 4:30 pm, Mondays – Thursdays.
Katie Noonan
Olympic Day
Help supervise student sports activities during this school-day event on 5/22/20.
Joshua Hancock
Online Auction
Generate donations, coordinate marketing, handle sponsor recognition. Lots of opportunities for people who can volunteer any amount of time.
Michelle Ahring Jennifer Carizey and Kelly Belmont
Online Auction Parent Parties
Generate and organize parent parties for the online auction
Michelle Ahring
Pacers
Help us get the kiddos outside and running during lunch/recess. Running brings many rewarding benefits for kids’ physical, mental and personal development. It’s also fun and anyone can do it! If you are available, please consider signing up.
Melissa DeJesus-Vasquez
Room Parent Coordinator
Ensure that each classroom as at least two room parents to help with social and academic events and to serve as a link between the teacher and other parents.
Jessica Ocken Michelle Ahring and Mindy Everett
School Directory
Organize and produce school directory of teacher, staff, families, and PTO leaders.
Stacey Belmont
Sleepover
Solicit parent/teacher volunteers, promote to families, and organize activities, food, and supervision for annual sleepover on 5/8/2020.
Sarah Carter
Spirit Wear
Coordinate online sales of Irving t-shirts and other items. Shannon Giles
Trivia Night
Organize parents fundraiser trivia contest. 5th Grade Parents and Kara Sakellaris and Nick Sakellaris and Donnie Biggins.
World Language Program
Organize lunchtime and after-school language program.
Meredith Farster
WORM Club (Working On Reading in the Morning)
Read with first-grade through third-grade students, one-on-one, 7:30 – 8:00 am, Monday – Thursday.
Nick Sakellaris
Yearbook
Compile and organize photos throughout the for the end-of-year yearbook, coordinate production and sales. Yearbooks are given to the 5th grades from the PTO, and are sold in late Winter.
Alison Askham Price and Alicia Francis
Zero Waste Lunch Committee
Volunteers are essential in maintaining this Zero Waste program because they train and assist the children through the sorting process, which can be a hurried and confusing process.
Ideally, we need volunteers to commit to overseeing all three lunch periods from 11:30 to 12:25, however, if you can only make part of that time, please let me know. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0e4fa8ab28a6fc1-lunchroom1
Adult family and college students welcome!
If you are able, please consider signing up for a reoccurring time slot each month.
Leah Fluecke and Sabrina Blackney
Note: We recommend those scheduling events install a subscription to a religious holiday calendar into their Google calendar. Yale University publishes through their chaplain’s office. You can find the link with instructions here: https://chaplain.yale.edu/subscription-religious-holidays-calendar
Updated 02/09/2020
