As April rolls in, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize a special group of individuals who assist us in our #FlaglerForward mission throughout the school year: our volunteers.
We celebrate not only Florida Volunteer Month this month but also National Public School Volunteer Week, which is April 21-27.
As it does every year, our School Board celebrates our volunteers with a proclamation (presented this year at the March 26 meeting) recognizing these two events. Our volunteers play such an important role in keeping our schools operating smoothly. Volunteers help out in countless ways: keeping the car rider lines moving, assisting in our front offices, before and after school clubs and classrooms and more.
Much gratitude goes to Flagler Volunteer Services, which runs the successful Reading Pals program, connecting young scholars with volunteers. Many of these volunteers are retired educators who share their wisdom and love of reading with a new generation.
Besides FVS, we have dozens of mentors in a variety of programs who devote more than their recorded amount of time working with students. Whether it’s with the African-American Mentoring Program, Take Stock in Children or Career Coaching, our volunteers are creating relationships that last much longer than a student’s time on our campuses. Our district has more than 3,400 registered and vetted volunteers in its database!
Lastly, I want to extend my thanks to the parent volunteers who dedicate their limited free time to making our PTOs and SAC groups the very best.
The thing about volunteers is that we can always use more. With many newcomers to the county, I’d like to welcome those who are service-minded to reach out to local service organizations to offer whatever time you can contribute, or you can register to be a volunteer with Flagler Schools via our website: https://www.flaglerschools.com/connect-with-us/volunteering.
As we march into the final quarter of the school year, I thank each and every volunteer for supporting our students and working with our staff and faculty to ensure a successful closure of the 2023-24 school year.
LaShakia Moore
Superintendent, Flagler Schools
