The success of St. Mary Parish School depends greatly on the assistance we receive from volunteers. Whether you are a parent, a grandparent or another important person in the life of a St. Mary student,  the time you donate is always greatly appreciated. To help you with your choices, below is a detailed listing of all of the activities that require volunteers throughout the school year. Please take a close look at this information and remember that God has a special calling for each one of us. There are many areas in which you can volunteer. Every volunteer truly makes a difference to our school and to your childr(en).

All adults working with children in the Diocese of Joliet are required to attend and be certified in the Protecting God’s Children program. Certification sessions, which require a three hour time commitment, are held throughout the year.  To request a St. Mary’s School Volunteer Form please contact the school office.

Parent Teacher Organization

	The PTO Meets at 7:00 p.m. on the first Tuesday of each month.
	Room Representatives: This position involves participating in the monthly PTO meetings; acting as classroom contact person for emergency closings; and planning three holiday parties with the teacher and other parents from the class. It is preferred that this person serve a 2-year term.
	Room Parent: Assist the room representative with holiday parties and other events
	PTO Officers: There are three officer positions for the PTO: President, Vice President and Secretary.

School Board

	The School Board Meets at 7:00 p.m.on the third Thursday of each month.
	School Board Member:  Attend and participate in monthly meetings.
	Note-Taker:  Attend all meetings and take notes on the session's activities.

Administration, Fellowship, and Building Maintenance

	Office Help:  Make copies in the school office.
	Dad’s Club:   Assist with painting, carpentry, and other miscellaneous maintenance issues at the school on an occasional basis.
	Gardening:  Maintain the planters in front of the schools.
	Welcoming Committee: Those who serve on this committee are responsible for calling new families to welcome them to our school
	Crossing Guards: This is an important position for the safety of our children.
	Hospitality: Provide refreshments at various school events.
	Health Form Auditing: Attend a training class and help to review the health forms to ensure fulfillment of required record-keeping.

Auction/Golf Outing

This event is our school’s annual major fundraiser: The proceeds from this fundraiser are used to pay the operating expenses of the school, and the projected amount is written into the operating budget each year. These funds help meet the many needs of our growing school and assist us in offsetting steep increases in tuition. Last year, this event earned over $30,000. We need our entire school to get involved in volunteering for this event. Please review the volunteer opportunities listed below.  Please see the Auction page for further details.

Marketing

	The PTO coordinates a number of marketing activities throughout the year.  Please review the volunteer opportunities below:
	Advertising:  Develop and Submit Ads to local newspapers at various times during the year.
	Door Hanger Distribution:  Distribute informational door hangers to various neighborhoods in the spring or summer.
	Parish Visits:  Parish visits involves setting up a table that contains our school’s marketing materials and then greeting  parishioners before and after mass and handing out our literature. Our current church contacts are St. John Neumann, Resurrection, and Corpus Christi. We would like to have a parish liaison for each of the parishes that we work with to coordinate visits with the church, request bulletin articles and coordinate school volunteers.
	Marketing Folders: Update and copy information for inclusion in our marketing folders.
	Press Contact:  Contact local newspapers and radio stations to promote our  school events.
	Open House:  Each year, we hold an open house during which current and prospective families can visit the school. Our open house is held during Catholic Schools Week in January.  We need volunteers  to greet attendees,  to lead school tours, to set-up prior to the event and clean up afterwards, and to prepare refreshments.  We also ask for one volunteer willing to coordinate the overall event.
	Mailings:  Copy and fold information, and address and stuff envelopes to be mailed to new parish families.  This is a task that can be accomplished from the comfort of your own home.

Ongoing Activities

	Library:  There are a several volunteer  opportunities to volunteer in the school library, which is available for students to attend one day each week (currently on Tuesdays). Volunteer opportunities include acting as library assistant on “Library Day," sorting and labeling new books; and reading aloud to the children. The Library Assistant position would entail being at the school every Tuesday. The other tasks could be handled on a more flexible, as-needed  basis.
	Campbell’s Labels for Education: Everyone can help out with this project by collecting and bringing in labels or UPC’s from the following food items: Campbell's, Chef's Kettle, Franco-American, Goldfish, Healthy Request, Pace, Pepperidge Farm, Prego, Simply Home, Spaghetti-Os, Swanson, V8 and V8 Splash. We also need volunteers willing to sort and cut labels to be submitted to Campbell’s for rewards.
	General Mills box Tops:  Keep cutting out and sending in those box tops!  We also need people to sort and trim box tops to be submitted to General Mills. Our school recently earned $313  for our efforts!
	Printer Cartridge Recycling:  Don’t throw out those old printer cartridges; send them to  school so that we can exchange them for cash from a local recycler. We are currently seeking a volunteer willing to coordinate cartridge pick-up with the local recycler.
	St. Mary’s Sweatshirt Sales:  We are seeking a volunteer to process the orders and distribute the sweatshirts.
	Yearbook:  The St. Mary’s School yearbook comes out at the end of the school year. We need volunteers to take pictures throughout the year, and to  submit them for inclusion in the yearbook. We also need individuals to setup and coordinate the printing.
	Art-in-Classroom Teachers: These individuals attend workshops and present special art modules in the classroom four times per year.
	8th Grade Trip Fundraising Coordinator:   We need the parent of an 8th grade student to assist with a variety of fundraising activities focused on generating  funds for the 8th grade trip.
	Girl Scout Leader: Assist in scheduling and coordinating one of the St. Mary’s Girl Scout troops.

Monthly Activities

Market Day: Market Day is a monthly food co-op. Market Day offers a wide variety of convenient, high quality, fresh and frozen foods for families. At least 10% of the cost of each item purchased through Market Day goes directly towards the schools operating budget. Coordinators and volunteers to unload and distribute food are needed for this program.

Weekly Activities

	Lunch Parents:  Lunch parents provide supervision during lunch and recess on Tuesday’s and/or Friday’s from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.  for preschool and kindergarten, and from 12:10-12:50 p.m. for 1st through 8th Grades. If you are interested and available, please contact the school office for further information, or fill out the volunteer form that you will find in your child's school folder near the beginning of the year.
	Thursday Hot Lunch: Volunteers are needed to organize, order and distribute hot lunch to the students
	Fundability: Volunteers are needed to organize, order and distribute the fundability gift certificates that are purchased through the school. Purchasing these gift certificates is a great way to reduce your tuition.

Fall Activities

	Teacher’s Tea: This event is a chance for PTO Room Representatives to meet with teachers to discuss the role and duties of the room representative throughout the coming year. The Tea is held in September.  It convenes in one of the classrooms, shortly after the end of the school day. A volunteer is needed to coordinate light refreshments for this event.
	School Directory: The school directory is sent out to all families in September. The directory includes the phone numbers and addresses of our school families, as well as other important information about our school. Volunteers are needed to organize the information, make copies, and spiral bind these directories.
	Taffy Apple Sales: Each autumn, we hold a taffy apple sale. We need volunteers to coordinate the ordering, sales, and delivery.

Winter Activities

	Live Nativity/Cookie Walk: Each December, the  school puts on a special  Live Nativity Presentation. Additionally, each  class sings Christmas carols outside in front of the church. We also host a cookie walk during this event, offering a wide variety of cookies and holiday breads for purchase.   All school families are asked to donate 10 dozen cookies and one loaf of holiday bread for this fundraising event. Each year, we need a coordinator for the Live Nativity, as well as a  coordinator for the cookie walk. We also need volunteers in the following areas: costume rental and fittings, garland and lights set-up, luminary set-up, stable set-up, coordination of lights and sound equipment, cookie walk, set-up,  coordination of hot-chocolate and cider service, and cashiers for cookie sales.
	Scholastic Book Fair:   This week-long event provides students with the opportunity to purchase Scholastic books. One night during the week, there is a special family reading night. The volunteers needed for the book fair include an overall coordinator, set-up and clean-up people, cashiers, readers for reading night, and a variety of helpers during the week to assist children in perusing the available books.
	Catholic Schools Week: This is a nation wide event to celebrate Catholic Education. At Saint Mary's, the celebration includes a Pancake Breakfast, Teacher Appreciation Day, and an All-School Mass. Volunteers are needed for the Open House,  as described in the marketing section.  In addition,  volunteers are needed to set up, serve and clean up at the pancake breakfast. The pancakes are prepared by the St. Mary's  Knights of Columbus.  School families donate juice, milk, sausage, bacon and other supplies.
	Fun Fair:  All school families are asked to help run the individual carnival games in their child’s classroom. An overall coordinator is needed for this event.  We also rely on volunteers to set-up for the fair, and to and clean up afterwards. All money generated by the Fun Fair goes to school’s operating budget. We appreciate donations of game prizes, raffle prizes, and baked goods for the cake walk.
	Fat Tuesday Celebration: This Pre-Lenten celebration held on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday includes a hot lunch for the children, and a wide variety of desserts (we take the "Fat" in "Fat Tuesday" very literally!) contributed by parents. A coordinator, servers, and set-up and clean up crews are needed for this event.
	Soup Supper/Stations of the Cross: The soup supper is served after the annual presentation of the Stations of the Cross, which takes place on a Friday evening during Lent. We need an overall coordinator for the event,  as well as people to set-up, serve,  and clean up.  Donations of homemade soup and bread are also needed for the evening.

Spring Activities

	May Crowning:   Families are asked to send a flower to school with their child to present to Mary during an All-School Mass.
	School Supply Kit Coordinator: School supply kits are sold as a service to our families.  Kits are sold at the end of the school year for supplies to be used during the following school year.

Summer Activities

Railroad Days Parade: St. Mary’s School marches in the parade to help promote our school and celebrate our community. A coordinator is needed for this event,  and all families are invited to join us in marching.