Volunteering at MMCH
When we returned to school in August of 2020 after the first few months of the COVID-19 Pandemic, we had to make a decision to not have volunteers in our classroom for the foreseeable future. This meant saying “goodbye for now” to some of our community members who had spent years volunteering with us. In the fall of 2021, as we learned more about the pandemic, we welcomed back our dear friend and long-time garden coordinator, Kim Roberts to spend time outdoors with our students. More recently, we welcomed Molly, Maisie, and Elsie Clark to our school to assist in the classrooms. Please read and scroll through the photos below on to learn a little more about their time over the past several years at MMCH:
Kim, co-founder of True Mountain Maple Syrup, and long time Sam’s Gardens coordinator (naming just two of the many, many things that occupy Kim’s time and energy), meets with the children 2 or 3 times a month to go for walks, try outdoor experiments, observe nature, and of course, do all things garden-related. Starting soon, Kim will escort our Kindergarten students to Webster Library twice a month to learn about library sciences with our Librarian and Maine State Poet Laureate Julia Bouwsma. When she’s not in the Library, Kim will continue her volunteer time with the Tea Time and Kindergarten folks from 12:30 - 2:00 each Wednesday. Kristie O’brien, Luna’s mother, plans to join Kim in her volunteer time next month as they prepare for gardening season.
Molly Clark was the chair of our Board of Directors for many years, in addition to being our Healthcare Consultant and an MMCH parent. She currently volunteers on our grant committee, as well! Molly’s daughters, Maisie (10) and Elsie (8), are MMCH alumnus and are homeschooling this year, and have for the past several years. We are thrilled to have them spend time with us assisting students with work, listening to children read, reading aloud to small groups, helping children transition outdoors, and supporting outside time. Having alumni students return to our school to volunteer is a dream come true - man, we are fortunate, for sure.
We are grateful for the time we get to spend with these wonderful community members as we make our way into the next phase of the pandemic. They’ve been incredibly thoughtful about our health policies, and have shown support and flexibility as we navigated things week by week. We believe volunteers are an intricate part of the education we offer here at MMCH, where friends and neighbors can learn about our school, and in turn our students can learn new skills and ideas from them.
Are YOU interested in volunteering some of your time here at MMCH? We’ve had many different types of volunteers in past years that have either taught dance or music, did a cooking or baking project, taught a new art technique, so we’re really open to any kind of talent, hobby, or whatever you think is fun to do! We love getting people in our community into school to work with these children, so please reach out if you’d like to spend some time with us!
