For the majority of my life I have been heavily involved in extracurricular activities and most of them have lead to some awesome volunteer opportunities!
Me To We:
As a highschool student, my school had a wonderful Me To We program for all students in the school to participate in if they choose. I joined Me To We in grade 8 and continued being an active member in the group until grade 12. Throughout my time being part of this group, I was actively involved in numerous volunteer opportunities. The program itself focuses on giving students a chance to raise funds and awareness for different global issues. Each year the issue chosen changes. In my own community we did volunteer work cleaning up the streets, raising money for local charities and assisting at events. We also focused on raising money each year for a specific global cause. Each year the Me To We group was given the opportunity to attend a Me To We trip to Vancouver BC to attend We Day. As well as attending the conference, we also volunteered at soup kitchens, homeless shelters and environmental organizations. I learned a lot about what it means to help someone who needs it, and what is means to physically make a change.
Classroom Volunteer:
Ever since I was old enough to be a “junior” volunteer in my moms classroom I have been spending a solid amount of time working in schools. In grade twelve I did eighty hours of volunteer hours in the local Montessori school. I was exposed to how different classrooms were run, how to implement the Montessori method and how different students learned. This was an incredible kick-start to my career, it was my first time getting to volunteer in other classrooms then my moms. Since then, I have gotten to continue volunteering in the classroom for my mom. I have taken on roles working one on one with students, leading class activities and attending field trips as a supervisor. This has given me a chance to be able to take on a more authoritative role, similar to a teacher. I appreciate these opportunities because they have helped shape me as a learner and a future teacher.
Cheerleading:
As I mentioned in my “About Me” section, I have been a competitive cheerleader for five years now. Although it seems distant, I have learned a lot about working with other people from cheer. I have always been one of the older girls on the team, and have taken on a “team mom” type role in the gym. That being said, for the last five years I have had a team full of younger girls looking up to me. I have been in a role model position and had to ensure that I am always acting fair and respectful. This relates directly to the teachers code of ethics. Being involved in a heavily competitive team means that you are always representing that team, even when you are outside of the gym. This goes the same with teaching. Even when I am outside of the classroom, I am still in that teaching role and have to display myself with that in mind. With this experience I have had an early understanding of what a role model and positive representative of an organization looks like, and have no concerns with being able to maintain that image as I go forward into my role as an educator.