As Arizona schools are being challenged to do more with less, they need support and resources from the entire community to ensure our children are getting the education they need to succeed.
Schools depend on parents, families and community members to raise money, volunteer in the classroom and provide one-one-one help to individual students.
Schools also partner with nonprofit organizations such as
Communities in Schools of Arizona, Hands on Greater Phoenix and the City of Phoenix’s Principal for a Day program to help provide additional support.
Through these programs, entire schools, classrooms and individual children are supported and mentored.
In addition to helping the school, research is now showing that volunteering in the classroom can give kids an academic boost.
A study from the Department of Education found that when parents are present in the classroom, the performance of all students tends to improve.
Children’s grades get stronger and they tend to stay in school longer. In addition, it allows the parents to continue the learning at home.
For example, if a teacher is doing a lesson on counting money, the parents can carry that into the home and continue to reinforce the learning after school hours.
According to Laura Magruder, President and CEO of Communities in Schools of Arizona, in order for children in our community to be prepared to succeed, they need five key things:
• relationships with caring adults
• a healthy start including quality early learning opportunities
• a safe place to learn and grow
• marketable skills
• a chance to give back to the community once they finish their education.
By volunteering in the classroom, you are helping to create these positive relationships with children that provide the foundation for their overall academic success as well as helping them achieve specific academic milestones such as reading at grade level.
To learn more about what's happening in education, and explore specific ways that you can get involved, please visit
ExpectMoreArizona.org.
Expect More Arizona is a public-private partnership dedicated to increasing public awareness about the importance of strengthening education in our state. The partnership has set out to create a movement of Arizonans who value education as our state's top priority AND are actively engaged in strengthening the entire continuum - from birth through career.Expect More Arizona is a sponsor of Sonoran Living Live.
