Adopt-A-School

Strengthening Community is Essential to Our Vitality

What is the difference between a philanthropy and community service? Many Greek organizations engage in philanthropy events. These usually last a day, sometimes up to a week. They usually involve some fundraising and sometimes involve making a special one-time trip. But do you get to see the impact of the work you've done? Do you get to find out how that money was put to use? What did you actually learn from the experience?

When Delta Tau Delta began asking itself these questions, we realized that there needed to be a commitment to the people living in our community. We really needed to make sure that this was a better place for us having been a part of the city where we lived. So we looked for a program that would give us several benefits.

• It must benefit on the local level, yet have an international scope.
• It must be implemented equally effectively in both small and large chapters.
• It must be ongoing throughout the school year, not just a "one shot" event.
• It must allow Delts the opportunity to see direct feedback from their efforts.

With these criteria in mind, Delta Tau Delta started to focus on education, literacy, and youth. After much thought and investigation, the Fraternity chose Adopt-A-School, an existing program of the National Interfraternity Conference (NIC). The goal of Adopt-A-School is to provide for the formation of one-on-one relationships between college students and elementary school children. Shrinking school budgets, poor teacher-student ratios, and a lack of positive role models contribute to the need for a program such as this.

We are proud that the Fraternity has joined an existing program, one in which nearly 150 campuses, Interfraternity Councils, and chapters are already participating. The goal of the program is to be inclusive and collaborate with other groups on campus. Delta Tau Delta is proud to be a part of this collaborative network.

Whether you live in an urban city of millions or a rural college town, there is a school in your community that can use your chapter's help. HOW TO GET INVOLVED IN ADOPT-A-SCHOOL If your campus already has an Adopt-A-School program in place... Contact your campus Greek advisor and student coordinators and express your interest in the program. The Greek advisor can give you updated information on the program as well as the names and phone numbers of the program directors or student coordinators. Let the Greek advisor and student coordinators know that Adopt-A-School is Delta Tau Delta's international service project and that you would like to take a leading role with the program.

Typically, chapters begin an advanced relationship with Adopt-A-School by volunteering with the existing program and developing rapport with the adopted school. Once the principal and teachers get to know you and trust your commitment with the children in their school, they may want your chapter to become involved with additional activities. This relationship building will take more than one semester, so don't try to move too fast. Eventually one of your chapter members may become the student coordinator. You may also want to see if there is a specific activity or program that your chapter can aid the school in implementing. Your involvement in the program is limited only by the bounds of your imagination and creativity.

If your campus is NOT listed as one that already has an Adopt-A-School program in place and you've discussed this with your Dean, Greek Advisor or Student Affairs Director...

STEP ONE

Contact Dan Couladis , Director of Leadership Development, at the Central Office by calling or e-mailing him at dan.couladis@delts.net and let him know you are starting the Adopt-A-School program.

STEP TWO

Create structure and plan for the program's success. Find an advisor for the program. The campus Greek advisor is the best choice. Decide what plan of involvement the program will follow. Will it be limited exclusively to Delts? Will you invite another fraternity or sorority to join you? Will participation be available to the entire campus? Many campuses have started with a fraternity paired with a sorority and have found this to be successful. You may wish to limit involvement in the program at its inception and open it up to other groups after it has been established for a few semesters. Determine where you want to volunteer. Two things that need to be taken into consideration are proximity of the school to campus and needs of the school. Not only do you want to volunteer relatively close to campus, but also you want to do so at a school that needs your help. Refer to the Adopt-A-School Introductory Manual. It is filled with helpful hints and information.

STEP THREE

Set up a meeting with the principal of the school you wish to adopt. Your goals for this meeting are to introduce that person to the concept of Adopt-A-School and decide what level of involvement is necessary. Share with the principal the background of the program and all the necessary details. Let the principal dictate the format of the program by determining what the school's needs are. Then you can design the program based upon those needs. This step could occur over several meetings. Don't expect it all to happen at one sitting because the principal may want to share the idea with the faculty and assess how the program could be of the most benefit to the school.

STEP FOUR

Recruit volunteers. Start this process after the principal has determined the needs of the school and a program has been designed that will meet those needs. Make sure that the program is well publicized so that you reach as many volunteers as possible. You can either be selective in your acceptance of volunteers by reviewing applications or you can have an open admissions policy. There are benefits to both. Starting off small is better than starting off too big.

STEP FIVE

Schedule and hold an orientation meeting for the volunteers and teachers. The purpose of this meeting is to allow the volunteers to become familiar with the school, its policies, and the faculty. It is probably best to hold this meeting at the school itself instead of on your campus. Although you and the principal together will decide on a time, make sure that both the faculty and the volunteers will be able to attend. Immediately after school is probably best; however, some campuses have scheduled the meeting at 8:00 a.m. to see how committed the volunteers are. Allow the principal to go over important school policies (fire and tornado drills, dress codes, etc.). Allow volunteers and teachers time to meet together. If each volunteer will work with a specific teacher, it is a good idea to let teacher and volunteer go to a classroom and talk about the student or the work the volunteer will do.

STEP SIX

Begin the program. Many successful schools have used the fall term to select a school, recruit volunteers, and design the program with the actual volunteer work beginning with the spring semester. If you are ready to implement volunteers in the same semester as locating the school, that is great. Just make sure you have taken adequate steps to ensure program success. Make sure that volunteers sign-in before every visit and that they fill out an evaluation after every session. The school will probably want them to sign-in for security purposes and it also allows the program director to track the volunteers. Evaluation after every session is important because it will allow the program director to determine how effective Adopt-A-School has been. As program director, you should visit the school once every couple of weeks to review sign-in sheets and evaluations. If a volunteer is having an attendance problem or gives the student he or she works with poor ratings, look into the situation and take steps to remedy it. Let's take every step to ensure that Adopt-A-School is successful.