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 Coordinators, Meghan Paulas & Amanda Becerra.  You can also use this form.

If you might be available for occasional projects during the school year, email Meghan Paulas & Amanda Becerra and they’ll contact you when extra volunteers are needed.

PTO Volunteer Committees

Academic Fair
Help with publicity, setup, and supervision of this spring academic fair.
PTO Admin

Art Fest
Help coordinate and set up for this student art and music event in the spring.
Emily Tague

Basketball 3×3
Help with the annual basketball tournament for 4th and 5th graders hosted in the Irving gym.
Josh Hancock

Book Fair
Help with the fall and spring sales of high-quality paperback and hardcover books to benefit the school library.
Flavian Prince and Stacey Belmont

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.
Jaime Moran and Barbara Portaczewski

Craft Services
Organize and host the Fall Chili Lunch and Spring Luncheon for Irving staff, as well as the WORM Club appreciation breakfast in the Spring.
Jennifer Carizey, Jessica Ocken and Stacey Belmont

Cultural Enrichment
Help plan and organize various cultural enrichment activities for our Irving students.
Mechelle Wesley

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.
Mars Garcia and Reggie Wright

Eagle Extras
Help us bring the Eagle Extras BACK for 2022-2023 by assisting in scheduling and publicizing after-school art, sports, and theater activities, and other fun and educational programs (Find out more here).
Kelli Harsch and Sabrina Blackney

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, Mechelle Wesley, Melissa De Jesus-Vasquez and Susan Raphael

Fun Fair
Help with this winter indoor special event 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 the Fun Fair.
Jessica Ocken

Fun Fair Teacher Parties
Organize teacher and staff donations to silent auction and supervise bids during the Fun Fair.
Lauren VanderBerg

Fun Run
Coordinate this October fundraiser for Irving students.
Dawn Goulet and Melissa DeJesus-Vasquez

Fundraising Committee

Help with any or all of the PTO’s general fundraising efforts.
Meghan Paulas & Amanda Becerra

Garden Club
Brainstorm and execute fun and educational gardening-related activities – no previous experience required! While this club is not currently meeting in person, we can still use your help making the Irving Garden a space for all to enjoy! This is an on-going, year round club that is usually busiest in the fall and spring, and in “normal” years would meet after school on Fridays.
Denise Frank

Homework Helper (Previously on HOLD due to Covid; TBD for 2022-2023)
In past years, volunteers would 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 fun school-day event in the Spring.
Joshua Hancock

Online Auction
Generate donations, coordinate marketing, handle sponsor recognition. This event has lots of opportunities for people who can volunteer any amount of time.
Kelly Belmont

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 once the program re-opens! (Previously on HOLD due to Covid; TBD for 2022-2023 School Year).
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

School Directory
Organize and produce school directory of teacher, staff, families, and PTO leaders.
Melissa DeJesus-Vasquez 

Sleepover
Sleepover coordinators help to solicit parent/teacher volunteers, promote to families, and organize activities, food, and supervision for the annual sleepover in the Spring.
Nick Sakellaris and Kara Sakellaris

Spirit Wear
Coordinate online sales of Irving t-shirts and other items.
Lauren VanderBerg

Trivia Night
Organize parents fundraiser trivia contest.
Fifth Grade Parents + Kara Sakellaris, Nick Sakellaris and Donnie Biggins

World Language Program
Organize lunchtime and after-school language program.
Lauren VanderBerg

Yearbook
Compile and organize photos throughout the for the end-of-year yearbook, coordinate production and sales.  Yearbooks are given FREE to all 5th graders from the PTO, and are sold in late Winter. Email the coordinators below to learn how you can help, or if you are interested in submitting photos of your Irving student(s) to be included in the yearbook, click here to learn how.
Elizabeth Holst Schinazi and Isabel Bogarin

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 us 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 8/8/2022