Volunteer Opportunities

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Submitted by: MCTM Membership Committee

One of the resolutions brought to the Delegate Assembly at  the Spring Conference 2016, was from District 4. The resolution brought to and passed by the assembly was to assist math teachers (retired, in-service, pre-service) in finding volunteer opportunities by way of connecting to a portal from the MCTM website. The idea was to operate similarly as the job posting portal.  The Membership Committee was charged to investigate this possibility and take action.  The Membership Committee consists of the Region Directors and President-Elect.

As meaningful discussion progressed and some investigations were done, we found that managing the portal for current and outdated postings would be difficult. Not to mention contacting districts and/or principals in the hopes of getting any feedback or receiving an unmanageable list.  We investigated some websites that link people to causes and found two good options listed below.  These links are on the MCTM website>>click on the Resources tab>>then Volunteer Opportunities.

Get Stem MN:  http://www.getstem-mn.com/
Connecting education and business to advance STEM opportunities. The “ASK” and “OFFER” buttons allow you to see what immediate opportunities/needs are available.  The “Categories” button has a drop down menu which includes: speaker, mentor, judge, PD and more. You can also narrow down your search by zip code and enter the type of work you want to do.

VolunteerMatch:  https://www.volunteermatch.org
“We bring good people and good causes together.”  Web site allows search in major US cities. MPLS and St Paul are among them.  You can join their data base; do a search for a specific role. I typed math tutor/mentor in the search box and 18 opportunities were displayed.

Other ways you can get involved to share your expertise and passion for math:

Adult Basic Education–GED tutor–check with your local school district.

Community Education–create a class to run in an after-school program.

County Libraries’ — Homework Help program

YMCA–after school and before school tutoring

Local School or district — personally contact principals in your community or school/PTA volunteer coordinator to see what might be available or what you may want to spearhead.

Math-On-A-Stick–volunteers needed during the MN State Fair, especially during the day when in-service teachers are at work in the classroom or meetings.

Math Competitions–Math Masters MN, Math Counts, etc.

MCTM–task forces and committees

We hope this helps you in your efforts to make connections.  If you find something you want to share, or are looking for volunteers within the MCTM organization, contact your Region Director who will be able to channel the information to the Communications Committee.