[Volunteers in the Schools]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

VOLUNTEERS In the Schools
OCD Publication 3619
Published by the offic^jf civilian defense With the Operation of THE OFFICE COEDUCATION FEDERAL SECURS' AGENCY and
THE OFFICE OF DEFENSE HEALTH AND WELFARE^ERVICES
U. S. OFFICE OF CIVILIAN DEFENSE
WASHINGTON, D. C.
DECEMBER 1942
Contents
Page
Foreword.......................................iv
I.	Why the Schools Need Volunteers ....	1
II.	How to Organize to Use Volunteers in the Schools......................................  2
III.	Types of Volunteer Services in the Schools .	8
IV.	Training Volunteers for Service in the Schools.......................................15
V.	Suggestions for Reading . ................19
For the use of executives of Civilian Defense Volunteer Offices, members of education committees of Defense Councils, and the administrative staffs of school systems.
m
Foreword
One of the responsibilities assigned to the Office of Civilian Defense is to “provide opportunities for constructive participation by civilians in the war program.” To this end, the Office of Civilian Defense is instructed “to assist other Federal agencies in carrying out their war programs by mobilizing and making available to such agencies the services of the civilian population.” It is further instructed “to review and approve all civilian defense programs of Federal agencies involving the use of volunteer services so as to assure unity and balance in the application of such programs.”
As a guide to the manner in which volunteers may be used, the Office of Civilian Defense is cooperating with a number of Federal agencies in the preparation of manuals on volunteer service. This manual, prepared by the Office of Education of the Federal Security Agency, is one of a series developed in cooperation with the Office of Defense Health and Welfare Services, whose function it is to strengthen and extend the health, welfare, and educational services of the country to meet effectively the needs of all our people in time of war.
IV
I.	Why the Schools Need Volunteers
The schools of America are being asked in these war years to do more and more with less and less.
More than ever before in our history we need trained manpower. More than ever before we need an intelligently informed public.
But when we turn to our schools as the first line of defense against doctrines hostile to democracy and as our best source of trained men and women, we find that the war has put uncommon burdens on the school system. In some communities where war industries are located, school enrollments have nearly doubled within a year. In some communities many teachers have been taken away by military or industrial service. Rural schools and centralized schools are facing transportation problems. In cities and towns the obligations of schools to community education and recreation have been greatly enlarged. Everywhere existing problems on all levels have been intensified and many new problems have been created.
Some of these problems can be met with the assistance of qualified volunteer workers. As a matter of fact, schools have always made use of such services to some degree. Depending, as they do, on the understanding and cooperation of the home, they have often invited parents and children to share activities and responsibilities. Now, when personnel and facilities are overtaxed, when a task of supreme importance and great magnitude faces them, they can be strengthened in hundreds of communities by means of the initiative, the special talents, and the energy of volunteers who are able in practical ways to supplement the work of paid employees.
To find the right work for everyone who is willing to donate time and energy for the benefit of the wartime educational program in his community is a challenging and often difficult task. Believing that many school administrators and Local Defense Councils would like help with this problem, the Office of Education has prepared this bulletin at the request of the Office of Civilian Defense. Advice and counsel have been sought from many persons familiar with this aspect of community organization, including chief State school officers in State departments of education. The suggestions which follow, in regard to the selection, training, and use of volunteers in school programs, are based upon this advice and upon reports of experience from many communities throughout the country.
1
II.	How To Organize
To Use Volunteers in the Schools
1.	Fit into the basic wartime pattern of community organization.— In most communities, the schools will be but one of a number of agencies drawing upon a common reservoir of volunteer wartime effort. It is important that all agencies and organizations work together. The only practical way of doing this is through the machinery of the Local Defense Council.
The basic pattern of community organization to meet wartime needs is suggested by the Office of Civilian Defense in the publication Organization Outline for Local Defense Councils. Both the text and the charts show what machinery should be set up for coordinating existing resources and planning new ones needed for defense or for making the community able to do its share in fighting the war. They indicate, further, that volunteers for both the protective services and the civilian war services should be secured through the civilian defense volunteer office, a central service of the Defense Council.
The schools are related to this basic pattern of civilian defense in three ways:
First. In the education committee of the Defense Council. The duties of this committee are to study the educational needs of the community during war and to arrange to meet them; to determine where volunteers may help to meet added educational responsibilities and what training such volunteers should have; and to assist the schools in playing their full part in the community war effort. The school system is represented on this committee, along with other organizations and agencies whose programs relate to the broad field of education. (For details of organization and program, see the Handbook for Education Committees of Local Defense Councils, prepared by the Office of Education and published by the Office of Civilian Defense.)
Second. In the volunteer office from which the schools secure volunteers and in which the staff and pupils 16 years of age or over register for wartime volunteer service. The volunteer office is a central agency for the recruiting of volunteers and their assignment to work or training. (For details see the manual, A Civilian Defense Volunteer Office, published by the Office of Civilian Defense.)
Third. In the Citizens Service Corps, to which all volunteers working in the civilian war services may belong. One of the units of the corps is School and Education Volunteers. (For details see
2
Handbook for the United States Citizens Service Corps, published by the Office of Civilian Defense.)
It is hardly necessary to add here that in most communities the superintendent of schools or some other leader in organized education is a member of the Defense Council and therefore already actively engaged in the community’s planning for war.
2.	Consult the Defense Council education committee and the volunteer office.—Every school and school system—public, private, and parochial—will in the final analysis decide how it will use volunteers and what volunteers it will use. Over-all planning, however, as to how volunteers can assist the schools do their part in the community war effort and help to meet emergencies within the schools is essential.
This over-all job of community planning is the function of the education committee of the Defense Council. It will list the fields in which it believes volunteers could be of service and the kinds of jobs they could do. It will, moreover, advise on the training needed. (See p. 15.) If an education committee is heavily burdened it may appoint a subcommittee to give special attention to how volunteers may be used and what training they need. As a rule, the consideration of the role of volunteers and their training will be a companion piece to study of the community’s educational needs.
3.	Organize a committee on volunteers in the school system.—The planning by the education committee does not take the place of careful consideration in each school system of the use which should be made of volunteer help. The general suggestions of the education committee will have to be studied to determine their applicability in the particular system. To do this there should be a committee on volunteers in each school system. Such a committee should be broadly representative of the departments of the system. It is likely that the superintendent of the school system, who is, of course, an ex-officio member of this committee, will wish to appoint a director of school volunteer services. This director will be responsible to the superintendent and will work with the education committee and the volunteer office of the Defense Council relative to the use of volunteers in that particular system. This director might well be the chairman of the committee on volunteers in the school system.
When the volunteer service program is extensive enough to warrant it, provision may be made for the appointment of assistants to the director of school volunteer services who will each be responsible for a special field of service. One, for example, might have charge of volunteer services in connection with the school recreation program; another might look after all volunteer help with the school lunches. In making such appointments the superintendent will use to the
3
maximum feasible extent the regular personnel of the various departments of the school system.
4.	Decide upon a plan of action for each school system.—The committee on school volunteers prepares a plan of action for the use of volunteers in its particular school system. It begins by considering service opportunities for volunteers, giving attention to such questions as: Is the school lunch program not functioning as effectively as it should because of the lack of workers to help with the preparation of foods, to aid the children in understanding what it means to eat the right foods, and to interpret the school lunch program to the community? Are there mothers who would leave their small children in kindergarten while they work in a nearby war industry if one were available? Could that vacant room at the end of the hall be spared for a preschool play group if a qualified woman could be found to take charge? Does the P. T. A. need help in its preschool round-up because of a large increase of children in the community? In making its choice of service opportunities the committee applies such test questions as:
(1)	Does this work grow out of a wartime need of the community? (Volunteers secured through the civilian defense volunteer office have enlisted for community war service, and should not be used for a project which will not make the community better able to play its part in total war or which does not meet a need created or aggravated by the war.)
(2)	Will this activity further the long-time objectives of the total school program? If so, in what ways?
(3)	How extensive is the project proposed? What will it involve in the way of time, money, equipment, and personnel?
(4)	Would the number of people reached or the benefit gained justify the expenditure of energy, time, money, and effort that will be necessary?
(5)	Do the schools have the human and material resources necessary for carrying the project through successfully?
(6)	Is there a person on the paid school staff sufficiently free of other responsibilities to give direction?
It then divides the opportunities into three classes:
(1)	Those which should only be undertaken by well-trained professionals;
(2)	Those which can be done by people with less extensive training who have recently taken, or will take, “refresher” courses to bring themselves up to date in their respective fields; and
(3)	Those which can be done by nonprofessional people with common sense and good work habits.
4
5.	Consult the school board.—After the committee has made its plan the superintendent takes it to the school board for approval. If the board approves, the director of school volunteer services puts the plan into operation.
6.	Make requests of the volunteer office.—The director of volunteer services in a school system is the person whose responsibility it is to report to the volunteer office the uses which the schools can make of volunteers. Before the director approaches the volunteer office for personnel, he should know exactly what qualifications the needed workers should have. He should be able to furnish not only a description of the work to be done but complete details concerning the type of qualifications—education, experience, personal traits, physical condition, sex, and age—which will guide the volunteer office in selecting prospective workers. If no qualifications are necessary other than normal intelligence and a desire to help, this fact should be indicated.
As a rule, three kinds of people are registered at the volunteer office:
(1)	Active workers who are willing to give some free professional service in their spare time;
(2)	People now retired who were once active in professional life or have some training that fits them to work in professional fields under competent direction;
(3)	The neighbors and friends who just want to help.
With a little careful planning, the schools nan probably use some of each to advantage. An overworked school doctor, for example, might welcome an hour or two of free service twice a week from a medical colleague. He could probably use a homemaker who has been a practical nurse to help take temperatures or keep records. He could certainly use a person to look after the waiting room and comfort crying children. The point is that each job to be done has its own requirements, and the ultimate success of the entire volunteer program depends upon finding the right people for the right places.
To avoid confusion it is suggested that all contacts with the volunteer office be made by the director of volunteer services in the school system and that all volunteers referred by the volunteer office report initially to him. The volunteer office will ordinarily send a larger number than the schools need, and the director is obligated to take only those candidates whose qualifications seem to him best suited to the volunteer positions he must fill.
7.	Make arrangements for necessary training.—If there is an orientation course in community war problems, it will in all probability be given by the Defense Council or volunteer office. Specific prepara-
496408°—42-------------2
5
tions for volunteer service in the schools, however, will be the responsibility of the director of the volunteer program in a school system. In some cases the schools will be in a position, through their adult education departments or by means of the cooperation of nearby colleges, to provide systematic technical training for unpaid workers. Preparation for any kind of volunteer service in the schools will include:
(1)	General information about the schools that will help the volunteer (a) to function effectively within the system, and (b) to represent the schools intelligently in contacts with other individuals, agencies, and organizations in the community.
(2)	Specific information about the program or department with which the volunteer is to work.
(3)	Specific information about procedures that will enable the volunteer to work harmoniously with teachers and other staff members.
(4)	Specific training for the job to be done. (Sometimes the service requested will be so simple that the only preparation the volunteer requires is a clear explanation of what needs to be done. Sometimes a foundation of basic training must be assumed and refresher courses added.)
The amount of specific instruction provided will depend upon the need of trained workers beyond the number who may be secured with adequate training, the facilities for training, and the number of persons available for whom training is advisable and feasible. Whatever courses are developed (see p. 15) must receive Defense Council approval if they are to be used for admission to the Citizens Service Corps. A final section of this manual gives suggestions for a basic training course for all volunteers in the schools.
8.	Provide necessary physical facilities.—To make volunteer workers a functioning part of the school organization, new facilities sometimes have to be provided. Furniture for a playroom may have to be solicited, a place for conferences arranged, a telephone installed. At this point, the committee in charge of volunteer services in the schools will most certainly want to clear with the education committee of the Defense Council. The assistance of such a group is especially valuable when the schools have to appeal to the public for supplementary materials or supplies.
The importance of giving volunteers in the schools proper tools to work with and proper conditions under which to work can hardly be overestimated. When these unpaid workers lack means to do a good job, they lose all feeling of status and are likely to drop out of the program. One of the best ways to keep their morale high is to show
6
them their efforts are appreciated by providing adequate space for their activities and the materials and supplies essential to their success.
9.	Interpret the volunteers to the regular school staff.—Although many members of the regular school staff are in the habit of working with parents, this is not quite the same as accepting a volunteer as a colleague. When the plans for the volunteer program are fairly complete, the superintendent and director of volunteer services in the school system will probably wish to discuss with the teachers and others concerned some of the problems of relationship that may arise as the volunteers are becoming a part of the school organization. He may want to emphasize the following facts:
(1)	That people work better in any situation when they feel wanted and adequate;
(2)	That people cannot feel either wanted or adequate unless they have opportunity to achieve, through their own efforts, and receive recognition for that achievement.
10.	Provide means jor reporting to the volunteer office.—The volunteer office will want to know first whether the volunteers it refers are accepted and later how adequately the volunteers are performing their duties. Some volunteers may be seeking admission to the Citizens Service Corps through 50 hours of service. In such instances the executive of the corps will want a report of hours worked. If the volunteer office has to get such information from individual teachers or other immediate supervisors of the volunteers, the process will be wasteful of time both for the schools and the office. The director should therefore arrange for the volunteer office to receive the information it needs either through the director himself or through school principals or deputies appointed by them.
7
III.	Types of Volunteer Services In the Schools
The following are some of the educational areas in which volunteers can help to meet the extraordinary wartime demands in the schools. Within each a few possibilities are suggested. Teachers and others working in each area will be able to think of many more.
1.	Play activities.—Qualified volunteers can assist with the organization and conduct of appropriate activities for children of all ages on school playgrounds, in playrooms, and gymnasiums. Such assistance is especially needed in connection with the extended school services or all-day school program for children of working mothers. Volunteers can—
(1)	Supervise play activities before and after school hours, on Saturdays and holidays, and during vacations;
(2)	Organize and take charge of games, dramatics, and story telling for children of defense workers;
(3)	Assist in physical fitness programs arranged by the schools to prepare persons for war service.
For further help on this subject, see the manual on Volunteers in Recreation, published by the Office of Civilian Defense.
2.	Health education and service,—Even in normal times, few schools have health programs which they consider adequate. In times like these, when the need for maintaining national health is imperative, the inadequacy of these programs is even more apparent. Schools in areas affected by wartime activities are overcrowded. The homes in many of those places lack even the most primitive sanitary conveniences. Community hazards, such as poorly lighted houses, inadequate water systems, and the prevalence of communicable diseases, make it necessary that measures be taken to safeguard the health of school children. Qualified volunteers, working under the proper direction, can—
(1)	Assist with programs, like the P. T. A. preschool round-up, which seeks to help parents get young children physically ready for school life;
(2)	Assist school health authorities with immunization campaigns;
(3)	Help school health workers to give and follow up health examinations of school children; assist in such simple clinical procedures as testing sight and hearing;
(4)	Help with first aid classes;
8
(5)	Help make the health needs of school children known to professional groups such as doctors, dentists, nurses, and also' to the general public;
(6)	Help to promote and extend adult programs of health education through evening school classes for men and women, daytime classes for mothers, forums, informal discussion groups, exhibits, demonstrations, etc.;
(7)	Help in as many ways as possible with the community nutrition program.
For additional suggestions in this are» see the manual on Volunteers in Health, Medical Care, and Nursing, and the manual on Volunteers in Nutrition, both published by the Office of Civilian Defense.
3.	School clubs and related activities.—The demands of military and industrial service have reduced the number of young people’s club leaders at the very time when these clubs have become more important for wartime training and proper use of leisure time. Volunteers can render many important services in connection with school clubs and club activities. They can—
(1)	Help with the planning and care of victory gardens;
(2)	Take children on excursions to museums and other places of interest ;
(3)	Take children on hikes to help keep them physically fit, as well as for educational purposes ;
(4)	Organize and teach or lead discussion clubs on current events and other aspects of the present world situation;
(5)	Teach useful handicrafts.
4.	Care and guidance of young children—In communities where mothers take on war industry employment outside their homes and where community facilities for the care,' education, and health supervision of young children are inadequate, qualified volunteers may render a real contribution by assisting with early school or preschool services for young children. These services should be conducted under the general direction of properly certified and competent staff members of the schools. In developing volunteer projects in the early school or preschool field for children of working mothers, the schools will be cooperating with other community agencies and organizations and should maintain close liaison with the welfare and child care committee of the Defense Council.,
Volunteers may help to meet the needs of young children and their parents in a variety of ways. They can—
(1)	Assist in conducting surveys or studies of the wartime needs of young children and of resources for meeting them, and deter-
9
minp, in what ways the school may supplement available services or supply new ones;
(2)	Assist in public schools; in public school kindergartens, nursery schools, and first-grade groups having 5-year-olds or immature children, they can—
(a)	Help care for small groups so that more children may be enrolled;
(b)	Release the teacher for or assist her in visiting children’s homes to discuss with parents the needs of children attending kindergarten and of those in the neighborhood who might attend;
(c)	Provide special services such as music, story telling, creative work with materials, etc.;
(d)	Assist with special learning problems of individual children and small groups.
In high school departments of homemaking, volunteers in laboratories of child care can—
(a)	Perform services in the routine care of children and in the preparation of food and other needed help;
(b)	Assist high school students in the care of children.
(3)	Assist with the care of young children during community programs when such care will facilitate the attendance of parents;
(4)	Assist with the development and conduct of supervised play groups appropriate to the needs of young children in housing projects, migrant workers’ camps, hospital convalescent wards for children, etc.;
(5)	As professional workers, assist by giving free service in connection with early school or preschool projects; for example, a nurse might volunteer to give children a daily health inspection, a nutritionist might plan meals for a supervised play group, a social worker might help out with home visits, and a physician, dentist, or psychologist might give consultative services in his special field;
(6)	Serve as sponsors in cases where they are able to provide housing, transportation, food, clothing, play equipment, and other supplies as needed;
(7)	Serve as aides in the nursery school in caring for the mechanics of housekeeping, care of equipment, and preparation of food.
Further suggestions will be found in the manual on Volunteers in Child Care, published by the Office of Civilian Defense.
5. Salvage for victory.—Schools frequently participate in community programs to collect waste materials—tinfoil, rubber, scrap metal, etc.—for war needs. Children can help in these campaigns by sav
10
ing in their own homes, by soliciting contributions, and by setting up collection centers. They need guidance and direction, however, to do these things effectively. Volunteers can help them—
(1)	Decide where’ to look for articles to be collected and organize, with the help of the Defense Council salvage committee, a regular routine of collection;
(2)	Procure and place suitable receptacles for materials collected;
(3)	Sort, pack, and deliver contributions;
(4)	Keep records and judge results of collection campaigns.
6.	Care oj school property.—Parents and children are usually glad to work with the school staff to keep school property clean, to beautify and protect school grounds, to conserve school supplies and equipment. There will be a shortage of workmen in wartime. Volunteers can help organize and direct home-school collaboration in such projects as—
(1)	Clean-up campaigns;
(2)	Painting or renovating classrooms or buildings;
(3)	Planting trees and shrubs;
(4)	Making school gardens;
(5)	Draining and surfacing school grounds that are muddy in wet weather;
(6)	Clearing land and building parks or sidewalks;
(7)	Filling in gullies or eroded land;
(8)	Getting playgrounds ready for games such as baseball, running games, etc.;
(9)	Making over old furniture;
(10)	Making studies of costs for light, water, heat, soap, towels, chalk, erasers, tablets, pencils, etc.;
(11)	Making and carrying out plans for saving school supplies and utilities.
7.	Adult education.—There are, generally speaking, four kinds of adult-education programs in this country—
(1)	Those sponsored by the public schools;
(2)	Those sponsored by colleges and universities;
(3)	Those sponsored by community committees or councils;
(4)	Those offered by private agencies or organizations such as churches, women’s clubs, parent-teacher associations, and the like.
All of these programs are more or less dependent on lay interest, assistance, and support. Volunteers can help with the public school programs in many ways. They can—
(1)	Recruit classes;
11
(2)	Help gather illustrative materials;
(3)	Assist with group work as teacher-helpers, discussion leaders, laboratory assistants, librarians, etc.;
(4)	Tutor individuals;
(5)	Help to keep public interest in the program alive by reporting on it to club groups, writing accounts of interesting projects for newspapers, etc.;
(6)	Show an interest by visiting classes;
(7)	Operate leadership training classes and courses for speakers and discussion leaders;
(8)	Make talks, lead discussions, and direct study groups;
(9)	Prepare visual aids and other materials for use in discussions and study groups;
(10)	Interpret the program to the public through all appropriate channels.
In programs offering courses or classes for illiterates, near illiterates, and the foreign-born who wish to learn English, volunteers can give valuable assistance. The education of illiterates subject to draft is a foremost wartime need. Volunteers can—
(1)	Make home visits to explain the adult classes, allay fears, and arouse interest;
(2)	Give individual help of many kinds as needed;
(3)	Accompany classes and individuals to court for examination and naturalization.
We have millions of illiterates and more millions of near illiterates in the United States. These neglected people can learn, and, if approached in the right way, they will welcome an opportunity to become literate.
One of the best methods of recruiting so far discovered is for some neighbor to invite a few to his house at a suitable time. There they are introduced to a teacher who explains to them how easy it is to learn to write their names. After the first lesson the members of the class are requested to bring others for the next lesson. In this way a class is soon organized. After several meetings in the home, if a proper amount of tact is shown, the members of the class can be induced to visit a school building if they are taken as a class. In most cases, after a visit to the school, the class members will vote to attend the school rather than to inconvenience the neighbor who has invited them to his home.
This method of recruiting is effective, although it is slow. It offers a fine opportunity for tactful volunteers who can easily be instructed to give the first lessons. Some volunteers become so interested that they will put forth a great deal of effort to learn how to give instruction.
12
It is difficult to define the qualifications of a person who can do this very important type of work. The main qualification is that the person must be interested in helping these persons. The illiterates of the various races and nationalities are more apt to follow one of their own nation or race than those differing from them. The training for this type of work is easily organized; there are people in most communities who have had successful experience in this type of work.
8.	School attendance.—Principals, superintendents, and departments of attendance and guidance, overburdened by increased wartime enrollments and insufficient staff, can use volunteers to—
(1)	Check enrollments against school census data;
(2)	Find out the names, ages, and addresses of children who have recently moved into the school district;
(3)	Take a preschool census to help anticipate future school population, and also to discover the wartime needs of this age group;
(4)	Make home visits to find out why children are absent from school, to acquaint new families with schools and other community services, and to assist them in making arrangements for children’s school attendance;
(5)	Take children to health clinics, etc.;
(6)	Make contacts with agencies in a position to help with problem cases.
9.	School feeding programs.—School administrators and teachers will likely find volunteers particularly interested in helping with the school lunch programs, which have been emphasized by the national war nutrition program. The advent of extended school services, however, with supervision of children of working mothers over a 1 O-hour or even a 12-hour day has made it necessary to expand the school feeding program beyond provision of only the noon meal. For children whose mothers are at work early in the morning or in the evening, the all-day school program will include provision of a morning and/or an evening meal if there is no one at home to prepare it.
In connection with the school feeding program, volunteers can—
(1)	Help plan the total program;
(2)	Solicit supplementary foods;
(3)	Help with school gardening and canning projects;
(4)	Help with cooking and serving;
(5)	Find out the diet children eat at home, as a basis for planning school meals;
(6)	Suggest food to be brought from home to supplement school meals;
(7)	Interest parents in the program and send home copies of school menus;
13
(8)	Guide children in their choice of food in school cafeterias;
(9)	Help make the meal an educational experience by presiding at table, directing conversation, and developing standards of courtesy and good manners;
(10)	Help interpret the school feeding program to the community;
(11)	Help prepare educational materials—posters, exhibits, etc.—for school classes and for parent meetings, showing what it means to “eat the right food.”
10. Miscellaneous services.—In addition to the types of services already suggested, volunteers can help teachers and administrators to overcome the war manpower shortage in a number of other ways. They can—
(1)	Help in the principal’s office, answering telephones, greeting callers, taking messages to teachers;
(2)	Help with school housekeeping—mend window shades, paint flower boxes, mend books and pictures;
(3)	Help teachers with record keeping;
(4)	Visit homes of pupils;
(5)	Help home economics and agriculture teachers swith supervision of home projects;
(6)	Help, if qualified, with testing programs—scoring tests, tabulating scores;
(7)	Do stenographic work or mimeographing;
(8)	Serve on curriculum committees;
(9)	Serve on advisory committees working with principals or teachers;
(10)	Assist in vocational guidance.
14
IV.	Training Volunteers
For Service in the Schools
Some of the volunteers in the schools may need a short training course to prepare them for the special type of work they are to perform. The planning and organization of this training is the responsibility of the schools with the advice of the Education Committee and volunteer office of the Defense Council. Training courses should receive approval from the Defense Council so that volunteers in the schools may be eligible for the Citizens Service Corps. (See p. 16.)
It is not possible nor is it necessary to present in this manual an outline of a training course for volunteer workers in each of the various services suggested in the preceding sections. The courses will vary widely with the particular fields of service. Each course should be specific, well organized, and clearly presented.
Eveiy volunteer, however, should have some information concerning the workings of the school system as a whole. He should know how the service he is planning to render fits into the total educational program. And he should have some idea of how the schopl, the home, and other agencies in the community work together. A general orientation course, therefore, for all volunteers in school service is much to be desired.
Let us suppose that in a given school district a group of 15 or 20 volunteers has been recruited for service to the schools through the local volunteer office of the Defense Council. They represent various levels of educational achievement, from ninth grade graduation to a college degree. Most of them are parents and home makers; some are members of local service groups; a few are professional or business people taking time from their own busy schedules to help in whatever way they can. There have been interviews with all of them to determine their respective interests and qualifications in meeting certain specified needs of the school system. Two of them are interested in working in the school library. Two would like to help in the nursery school or kindergarten. Two others prefer to work on the playground. One is qualified to visit in the homes to check on attendance problems. Several can take charge of projects for the collection of waste materials. Two are interested in the school feeding program. One can assist with clerical work in a principal’s office. One is fitted to help with health service program. The others have no definite preferences but have wide educational interests and will serve wherever they are needed.
15
What common knowledge should all these persons have in order that they may serve effectively within the school system? Twelve hours of basic conferences and observation would furnish the necessary background for later specialized training in the particular field of the volunteer’s choice. During this period of training, the objectives and the operation of the schools should be briefly presented by members of the school staff, and opportunity should be given for observing schools at work and for discussing some of the general problems related to volunteer services in the schools. All the volunteers should have a basic course of this kind and should then enter special fields of activity under the immediate guidance of an appropriate staff member. Nothing less than 12 hours of such basic training should be considered adequate, supplemented by specialized training as needed. A program of procedure and topics for discussion in this basic course are suggested below, with the understanding that adaptations will be made to meet local conditions.
First meeting (1 hour).—The superintendent or the director of volunteer services in the school system will greet the volunteers and tell them something of what the community is trying to do through its schools for children, young people, and adults with emphasis on the wartime situation. He may describe the general organization of the school system, the division of administrative responsibilities, the way in which the program in each school is carried out by the principal and teachers, and how the volunteer services to be rendered will contribute to this program. Questions may be asked and answered at this meeting about the various types of volunteer services needed in wartime.
Second meeting (1 hour).—The director of volunteer services in the school system will tell the group how the war is affecting the school program; what difficulties are being met in maintaining adequate personnel and services; how the school and the home must work together in protecting the children; what new emphases the teachers are introducing into the curriculum; what modifications are going on in elementary and high school programs; and how the children and their parents are participating in the war effort. This presentation should stimulate an animated discussion on the part of the group as to how each can best contribute to the total program.
Third meeting (2 hours).—This meeting may be held in one of the elementary school buildings. Under the guidance of the school principal, the volunteers will make a tour of the building and become acquainted with the school plant and the types of facilities and equipment available: The principal’s office and the records he keeps; the lunchroom or cafeteria; the lighting and heating provisions; the library; the kindergarten room; the school nurse’s room and other
16
health, service equipment; sanitary facilities; the playground; the school garden; and, of course, the classrooms. If important facilities are lacking, the principal may point out this fact and show how the school is attempting to make the best use of what it has. At this meeting, too, the principal may tell the group something about the duties of a principal and the machinery needed to keep the school running smoothly. He may explain the way in which classes are scheduled, teachers are assigned, lunches are provided, transportation is handled, and attendance is checked. He may also explain how the school tries to help each child to make progress in his school work in accordance with his capacity. He should be able to stimulate many questions for further information as the group goes about the building and as they gather in the principal’s office or in a classroom after the tour is completed.
Fourth meeting (2 hours).—A similar tour of a junior or senior high school building may be made that will bring to light the special features of the secondary school plant and program.
Fifth meeting (2 hours).—By this time the volunteers should be ready to observe with profit the children’s activities in the school. If some of them are to work in the elementary school and others in the high school, the group should be divided accordingly. They may be assigned to visit individually or in twos or threes, according to their interest in the particular phases of the day’s work. Too much specialization should not b^ petmitted at this stage, however, since the object is to give to all some familiarity with the entire program of the school. Specialized observation and training should come later.
Two hours of continuous observation will yield the best results, since the progressive nature of the school’s daily program can be shown most effectively in this way. The principal or a qualified assistant will make out in advance a visiting schedule for each observer, with specific directions as to what to look for and with questions to be answered by the volunteer on the children’s programs and activities. Children at work and at play, in the library and in the classroom, at lunch and at rest, in the auditorium and in the laboratory—wherever their schedules take them throughout the day— should be the concern of the observers. The activities of the teachers and of other staff members in dealing with the children should also be given attention. How the cafeteria operates, what the school nurse does, how the librarian checks in and checks out the books, how the school garden is planned, what the teacher does on the playground, what the principal says and does when a child is tardy, how the high school students conduct an auditorium period—all of these and many other phases of the day’s activities will help the volunteer to see what a busy day at school is like.
17
Sixth meeting (1 hour).—On the basis of the observation period, the principal or other leader of the group will guide the discussion of the activities observed. Selected members of the school staff should be present to answer questions and to point out significant phases of the program in their respective fields.
Seventh meeting (2 hours).—Another observation period should be planned, and this one may “highlight” activities in which schoolcommunity relationships are emphasized: Collection of salvaged materials, conservation projects, nutrition programs, after-school use of playground, the school guidance clinic, Junior Red Cross and other pupil service clubs, home projects in child care and other phases of home making. Careful selection and assignment should be made of the activities to be observed, and they may come at different times for different volunteers. Again, a sheet of directions and set of questions should be prepared to guide the observer.
Eighth meeting (1 hour).—This should provide another discussion period. Members of the school staff responsible for the special projects observed should be present to assist. This is the final meeting of the basic training course. The volunteers should now be ready to be assigned to definite spheres of activity, for which they will take additional training as needed.
The specialized courses for volunteers in particular types of school service, which will follow this orientation course, should be adapted * to the needs of the individual and to* the work he is to do. One person may need relatively little specialized training for a particular job; another may need considerable help. No hard and fast rule can be made for all people and for all types of school services.
A leaflet on Training Volunteer Workers for Extended School Services may be secured from the Office of Education. This was prepared especially in relation to the extended school program for children of working mothers but is applicable to any nursery school or kindergarten situation. A manual on Volunteers in Library Service is available from the Office of Education or the Office of Civilian Defense. Other manuals issued by the Office of Civilian Defense which include reference to training are—
Volunteers in Recreation.
Volunteers in Health, Medical Care, and Nursing.
Volunteers in Child Care.
Volunteers in Nutrition.
As a rule the education committee of the Defense Council and the committee on volunteers in the school system will not need to be concerned with developing these specialized courses. Volunteers will be able to enroll in the courses for child care volunteers, recreation volunteers, or for other courses which are available in the community.
18
However, the Office of Education will, upon request, provide additional materia] for use in organizing and developing courses in specific school services. In these days of wartime dearth of personnel, there is no doubt that volunteer workers will be an important source of emergency help. Whatever guidance and training can be given them before they go to work will increase their potential effectiveness in service.
V.	Suggestions for Reading
Reading should constitute a part of the training of volunteers as well as an accompaniment of their actual service. A few suggestions for reading are given below and the Office of Education will, upon request, supply other pertinent helps. Publications issued by the Office of Education are available free or at nominal cost. A price list will be sent upon request.
Bain, Winifred. Parents look at Modern Education. New York, D. Appleton-Century Co., 1935. 330 pp.
Baruch, Dorothy Walter. Parents and Children Go To School. New York, Scott, Foresman, & Co., 1939. 504 pp.
Educational Policies Commission. Social Services and the Schools. Washington, D. C., National Education Association, 1939. 144 pp.
U. S. Office of Education Federal Security Agency
All-Day School Programs for Children of Working Mothers. School Children and the War Series, Leaflet No. 3. (In press.)
America Builds a School System. Bulletin No. 12, 1941. 53 pp. (Especially Chapter III, “The Modern Period: Education in a Democracy.”)
Elementary Education-—What Is It? Bulletin No. 4, 1940, Part I. 31 pp. (By Helen K. Mackintosh.)
Industry Needs Women Workers—Your Children Must be Protected. School Children and the War Series, Leaflet No. 1. (In press.)
Know Your Board, of Education. Leaflet No. 47. 9 pp. (By W. S. Deffen-baugh.)
Know Your Superintendent. Leaflet No. 48. 9 pp. (By W. S. Deffen-baugh.)
Know Your School Principal. Leaflet No. 49. 9 pp. (By W. S. Deffen-baugh.)
Know Your. Teacher. Leaflet No. 50;
12 pp. (By W. S. Deffenbaugh.)
Know Your School Child. Leaflet No.
51.	18 pp. (By Mary Dabney
Davis.)
Know Your Modern Elementary School. Leaflet No. 52. 22 pp. (By Helen K. Mackintosh.)
Know How Your Schools Are Financed. Leaflet No. 53. 17 pp. (By Timon Covert.)
Know Your State Educational Program. Leaflet No. 55. 26 pp. (By W. S. Deffenbaugh.)
Know Your School Library. Leaflet No. 56. 16 pp. (By Nora E. Beust.)
Know Your Community As a Basis for Understanding the School’s Problems. Leaflets No. 57. 33 pp. (By Bess Goodykoontz.)
Nursery Schools Are Vital To America’s War Effort. School Children and the Wai Series, Leaflet No. 2. (In press.)
fl. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1942
19