Parent’s name:

Child’s or children’s name(s)/grade(s):

Teacher(s):

I want to volunteer, but I work full-time and need things I can do from home.

I want to help by offering my expertise in (e.g. graphic design, publicity, data management, finance, marketing, writing, development, etc.):

The best way to contact me is by:

e-mail

phone

Please look at the volunteer opportunities and list the event(s) for which you’d like to volunteer, including the specific tasks that interest you (bulleted under each event). Please let us know whether you are interested in serving as a committee chair or co-chair, and if you need more information about a particular job or event.

DESCRIPTIONS OF JOBS/EVENTS

AFRICAN-AMERICAN CELEBRATION (Friday, February 8, 2008)
Annual event promoting the culture, history and traditions of peoples of the African Diaspora. Committee members develop a theme and invite guest artists to the school to work with BFS students and to give a performance for the entire community.

• Long Range Planning
• Artist Recruitment/Management
• Marketing/Promotion
• Set Up/Decorating/Food Service
• Fundraising
• Finance

BAKE SALES (Performing Arts, etc.)
Make or purchase baked goods to sell at MS and US performances and other school-wide events.

• Coordinator
• Baker/Donator

BEAUTIFICATION
Identify public areas at BFS that need sprucing up. Past projects have included stenciling the restrooms, creating mosaics for the cafeteria, and painting a mural in the back alley.

BFS APPAREL (Sales & design)
Help design clothing and accessories to showcase BFS. Sales team researches vendors, places orders, and conducts lobby sales of items at school events and other selected times.

CAROUSEL PARTY (May 8, 2008)
Annual event held at the Prospect Park Carousel to welcome new pre-and lower school families to BFS. Help with invitations, catering, set-up, and clean-up.

CLASS PARENT
Class Parents are the vital link between each grade and the larger BFS community. Class Parents reach out to all families to make them feel welcome, stay abreast of issues affecting their class and the wider community, encourage participation in school events, attend meetings with their division heads and foster communication among parents, the PAT, and the school administration.

COMMUNITY SERVICE
Identify opportunities for community service suitable for the entire community and recruit families to participate. Annual events include donation/serving/delivery of food at Thanksgiving, Holiday Toy Drive to benefit children at the St. Johns Family Center, the Family Day of Service (last year’s event including cleaning up Cadman Plaza Park, making decorative vases for a nearby senior center, knitting blankets for hospitalized babies, etc.), and the Blood Drive.

• Thanksgiving Service Opportunities
• Holiday Toy Drive
• Family Day of Service
• Blood Drive

CRAFTS FAIR (Saturday, December 1, 2008)
Annual holiday fair featuring crafts vendors in the lower gym, games for children in the upper gym, and food service. Committee members help with overall coordination, staff games, do set-up and clean-up, cook, etc.

• Vendor Coordination
• Winter Fest Games
• Food
• Day of Event staffing (set-up, clean-up)

DEVELOPMENT
Help promote the importance of the Annual Fund and other development initiatives.

• Annual Fund Parent Volunteer
• Annual Fund Phonathon

DINOSAURS, DOLPHINS & FRIENDS (Sunday, February 10, 2008)
Annual concert by faculty member Tony Soll and friends to raise money for PAT mini-grants. Mini-grants support programs outside the scope of the general curriculum. Help with ticket sales, refreshments, publicity.

• Refreshments
• Ticket Sales
• T-Shirt Sales
• Decorations

DIVERSITY
New committee created in 2004 to celebrate our diverse community. Plans for 2005-6 include a film festival in January. Help with event planning and publicity.

• Event Planning
• Communications
• Diversity Goes to the Movies

FAMILY DANCE (Saturday, January 12, 2008)
Annual event for pre- and lower school families who gather in the Lower gym for folk and square dancing to live music with a professional caller. Help with publicity, refreshments.

NEW FAMILIES DINNER (May 20, 2008)
Help welcome new families to BFS with phone calls and attendance at the dinner. Assist with invitation process too.

• Welcome Calls
• Invitations

PAT
The PAT needs lots of help to facilitate its many events. Serve as an executive officer, help with publicity (e.g. poster design), keep the PAT board up to date, write e-news items for the PAT, recruit families to participate in events, assist with logistics of PAT parenting lecture series, new for 2005-6.

• Executive Officer
• Finance (Mini-grants & Visiting Artists)
• Publicity (Poster/Flyer Design)
• Bulletin Board
• E-news
• Membership/Involvement
• Speaker Series
• Administrative (Mailings, Xeroxing)

SPRING BENEFIT (May 2, 2008)
Our annual auction to raise money for the school. Proceeds typically support tuition assistance and technology upgrades. There are many ways to help: venue research, catering, theme development, invitations, soliciting donations, database entry, coordinating the silent auction, etc. The more hands available, the better.

• Venue Selection
• Catering
• Decorations
• Branding/Theme/Design
• Invitations
• Donation Solicitation
• Database Entry
• Publicity/Marketing
• Collateral Items
• Web page
• On-line auction
• Benefit Journal
• Managing Editor
• Copy Writing
• Ads
• Donation Management/Wrapping
• Silent Auction Display/Management
• Lobby Sales/Promotion
• Emcee
• Day of Event On Site Management
• Day of Event Set-up
• Day of Event Clean up
• Post-Benefit Distribution of Winnings
• Post-Benefit Correspondence
• Schleppers

SCRIP PROGRAM COORDINATOR
Scrip is another word for pre-paid gift certificates. The PAT buys them at a discount and sells them for face value. The difference between the face value and discounted price is our revenue. Along with the SchoolPop program, the scrip program is part of a larger effort to raise $15,000 to upgrade science labs by capitalizing on families’ day-to-day spending. Manage the scrip program, including placing orders, preparing them for pick up, periodically updating the merchant list, and publicizing the program. See more info about Scrip and Schoolpop.

SCHOOLPOP CHAMPION
SchoolPop is an organization that helps schools raise money by partnering with on-line merchants who donate a percentage of their proceeds. SchoolPop also offers a VISA card that contributes 1% if every purchase to BFS. The Champion tracks the program and publicizes it to the school community to increase the number of participants.

TEACHER APPRECIATION BREAKFAST (Date TBD, May 2008)
Help celebrate our faculty and staff with a breakfast at the end of the year. Design invitations, work with BFS food services to create a menu and attend the event.