Volunteer Roles

Every volunteer makes a difference and enhances the Bubb community! It's this dedication and commitment on the part of parents, students and staff that makes Bubb such a great place for our children to go to school. We hope you will take time again to get involved and make a difference in our children's education!

Getting Started

Most volunteer jobs at Bubb can be separated into four main categories: Classroom Jobs, Room Parents, School-wide Administrative Jobs, and PTA Jobs. The following is a brief description of each category, including examples of tasks in each. Some jobs can be organized and completed at home, while others require being on campus during school hours.

There may also be other opportunities to volunteer which are unique to certain classrooms. These opportunities will be presented at back-to-school night and/or specific requests will be made by the teacher or room parent liaison throughout the year. The weekly Bubb Bulletin will also note various events or tasks for which help is needed.

Please review the various categories of volunteer jobs below to help you to determine where your interest may best be expressed in your service to Bubb. Then, join a committee or check out our Open Volunteer Positions to see where you can help right away. Feel free to contact our Volunteer Coordinator (bubbvolunteer@gmail.com) with any questions about volunteering at Bubb.

Please also read the General Volunteer Procedures and Policies covering confidentiality, safety, and other important policies. Thanks for taking the time to volunteer. We really appreciate your interest and support!

Job Categories

Classroom Jobs

Curriculum-oriented classroom jobs include listening to children while they read, working with children in math, helping in the computer lab or assisting the teacher with an art or cooking project.

Administrative jobs in the classroom involve organizing homework papers, preparing for an art project, or assisting the teachers or librarian with other tasks.

To help with any of these tasks in the classroom, please talk to your child's teacher at Back-To-School Night or shortly thereafter.

Room Parents

Each classroom has one or more Room Parents who help the teacher by coordinating parent volunteers for such events as class parties, field trips, and the Walkathon & Silent Auction. To learn more, read What Does a Room Parent Do? To become a Room Parent for your child's classroom, please sign up with your child's teacher at Back-To-School Night.

School-Wide Administrative Jobs

Administrative jobs relate to the school overall, and include photocopying and collating documents for teachers. To help with a school-wide administrative job, please contact Volunteer Coordinator (bubbvolunteer@gmail.com).

PTA Jobs

PTA jobs support Bubb events such as being on the Walkathon Organizing Committee, assisting at Family Fun Nights, publicizing the Talent Show, or helping to serve at the Staff Appreciation Luncheons. They also involve ongoing tasks, such as translating PTA flyers into Spanish or welcoming new families to Bubb. We have several open positions in this area. Please review our Open Volunteer Positions and sign up on Konstella to help.

Complete List of Bubb Volunteer Roles

PTA Executive Board

President

Maintain the PTA calendar and set the agenda for meetings. Communicate with Board Members and Committee Chairpersons regarding status of duties. Attend all Bubb PTA meetings as well as PTA Council meetings. Meet with Executive Board to set goals and budget for upcoming year. Discuss PTA events with Principal. Requires 20-25 hrs/month on avg.

Executive Vice President

Attend all PTA meetings, curate the weekly PTA blurbs for the Bubb Bulletin, including Spanish translation, and assist the President as needed. Requires 8-10 hrs/month on avg.

1st VP - Volunteer Coordinator

Attend all PTA meetings, manage communications to all Room Parents and volunteers, and match volunteers to open positions. Organize Room Parent meeting at the beginning of the school year. Requires 12 hrs/month Aug-Oct, and 3 hrs/month thereafter.

2nd VP - Membership Coordinator

Attend all PTA meetings, promote PTA membership to Bubb community, and attend beginning of the year events to sign members up. Keep a record of all members and distribute cards and directories. Requires 12 hrs/month Aug-Oct, and 2 hrs/month thereafter.

3rd VP - Family Activities

Attend all PTA meetings and plan fun family activities including movie nights, dances, math night, science night, guest authors, etc. Recruit and coordinate volunteers, manage budget and expenses, and coordinate advertising, noticing, and any permits or approvals. Approx. 10-15 hrs/month.

4th VP - Language Liaison

Attend all PTA meetings. Attend ELAC meetings or communicate closely with ELAC representatives. Translate all PTA communications into Spanish, and help ensure that PTA communications and events are accessible and welcoming to all families. Requires 1 hr/week and knowledge of Spanish.

Secretary

Attend all PTA meetings and accurately record minutes. Prepare minutes for next meeting along with a list of unfinished business. Requires typing skills and 4-6 hrs/month.

Treasurer        

Attend all PTA meetings and keep financial records using QuickBooks. Reconcile monthly bank statements, prepare monthly statements, write checks, prepare annual report and taxes, and provide financial records to Auditor. Requires 10-15 hrs/month.

Financial Secretary        

Attend all PTA meetings and assist the Treasurer by collecting, preparing, and promptly depositing all money into PTA account.

Auditor        

Attend all PTA meetings. Audit the books and financial record semi-annually, and prepare and present a written report to the Executive Board. Requires 5 hrs per audit, usually in January and July.

Historian        

Attend all PTA meetings and tally volunteer hours logged by Bubb volunteers. Report regularly to Board and prepare end of year report. Requires 1 hr/month.

Parliamentarian

Attend all PTA meetings and chair the Bylaws Committee. Give advice on parliamentarian procedures and PTA bylaws and help revise bylaws as necessary. Help form the Nominating Committee and call the first meeting.  Requires 4 hrs/month and knowledge of bylaws and Roberts Rules.

Communication

eCommerce 

This person is responsible for working with the WATSA, Spiritwear, Membership chairpersons to update and monitor the Bubb PTA Square online store. This person also helps to facilitate a process for fulfilling orders. See our current store at: https://squareup.com/market/bubbelementary-school-pta.

Language Liaison Committee

Help the Language Liaison and Bubb Teachers and Staff translate important communications. We need members able to provide oral and written communication in Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, and more.

Marquee Committee Lead

Determine important dates and events and review with office staff. Coordinate volunteers.

Marquee Committee

On a monthly basis during school hours, take turns updating the informational signs at the front and back of the school. It'll take about an hour each time, and we promise not to make you spell supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

Website

Update the PTA website for Back-to-School (July-August), WATSA (July-October), and Bubb Bulletins (every Wednesday.) Regularly update site content and photos as needed. Requires 1-2 hours/week, plus 10-15 hours for Back-to-School and 20-30 hours for WATSA. Requires expertise with HTML and familiarity with Google Sites or similar content management system.

Fundraising

Book Fair Coordinators

Coordinate the dates of the fall and spring Book Fair with the PTA, the school office, and Scholastic Press. Publicize the Book Fair through the Bulletin and by hanging posters in advance. Open and close up every day of the Fair. Enlist volunteers to help set up, work the registers, and/or help students select books. Coordinate with a local author and teachers to read during "Reading Under the Stars" evening event. Present profit and overview of how the Fair went at the PTA meeting afterwards.

Book Fair Apprentice

Learn the ropes from our experienced Leads. Coordinate the dates and publicize the fall and spring Book Fair. Open and close up every day of the Fair. Enlist volunteers to help set up, work the registers, and/or help students select books. Coordinate with a local author and teachers to read during "Reading Under the Stars" evening event. Present profit and overview of how the Fair went at the PTA meeting afterwards.

Book Fair Committee  

Help Book Fair Chairs to set up, run and take down the fall and spring Book Fairs.  Book Fair jobs include running cash registers, helping coordinate book donations for teachers, and helping students select books and determine if they have enough money for their selections.

Rewards Programs Coordinator

Manage and promote the Bubb PTA's participation in rewards programs through Amazon, Box Tops, eScrip, Nob Hill, and Sports Basement. Specifically coordinate sign-ups, i.e. fill in escript program information online and advertise program in school bulletin, review statements and apply online for a Safeway Foundation grant. Requires 2 hours in August, then 1 hour per month. Can be done at home.

Spring Art Show Coordinator 

Work with art teachers and prepare for Art Show. Coordinate volunteers to setup and take down art show.

Spiritwear Committee

Help Spiritwear Chair sell spiritwear and fulfill online and in-person orders.

Walkathon & Silent Auction (WATSA)

This is our biggest fundraiser of the year and occurs in early October. It’s a great way to become a part of the Bubb Community. 

• WATSA Co-Chairs: Plan, coordinate, and oversee the entire event.

• Auction Parties Co-Chairs: Solicit and receive Party ideas and work with the Hosts to finalize details. Submit details to Auction Data leads and Auction Parties Data team.

• Auction Parties Data Lead and Apprentice: Revenue from parties is a significant portion of WATSA revenue. Keep track of auction party details and generate and hang posters a week or two before the event.

• Award Alley Co-Lead: On the day of the event, the Award Alley Co-Leads manage the Award Alley tent where kids get their prizes for every 10 laps they walk. There are adult and middle school volunteers working in the station all day. The leads make sure they know what to do and have what they need, as well as distributing prizes themselves.

• Award Parties Co-Lead: In November we hold 3 award parties for the kids: pizza party for top walkers, book party for those turning in any amount of pledges, popcorn/cookie party for kids turning in $100 or more. The Award Party co-leads work with the WATSA Chair to organize and execute these parties. This entails recruiting volunteers to help with and provide food for the parties, gathering prizes, and managing the parties.

• Bake Sale Co-Lead: Learn from our long-time Bake Sale Lead how to organize, set-up, and manage the volunteers, finances, and bake sale items at the event.

• Balloon Arch: Procure the balloon arch on the morning of the event.

• Classroom Donations Coordinator: Be the contact person for Room Parents and collect/document all the Party and Gift Basket donations from classrooms.

• Craft Corner Lead: Collect donations before the event, price items, and manage the display, volunteers, and cash box at the event.

• Event Food Co-Lead: Coordinate food vendors and sales prior to and on the day of the event. Work with the WATSA Treasurer to manage cash boxes at the food stations.

• Event Photographer: Take photos at the event and submit pictures that are suitable for the Bubb website.

• Facilities Coordinators: Help the Chair create a map of the event. Oversee setting up the course and tables/booths.

• Gently Used T-shirts: Solicit gently used Bubb shirts from the community and redistribute to those who need one.

• Giving Tree: Determine teacher and staff needs and post items on the Giving Tree.

• Graham Student Coordinator Co-Lead: Organize and supervise the middle-school students that volunteer at WATSA and at the goodie-bag stuffing event a few days prior. Record and report block-G points.

• Graphic Arts: Take student artwork and design Bubb T-shirt and other graphics needed for catalog and directory.

• Language Liaison: Help translate important WATSA information and help ensure that all members of the Bubb community are engaged and included in the event.

• Lap Marking Lead: Coordinate the parents and teachers who are marking lap cards and keep track of lap marking pens.

• Lucky Lollipops Co-Lead: Be on the WATSA team most beloved by students. Gather and package prizes, choose and purchase lollipops, and manage the booth at the event.

• Music Chair and MC: Generate the play list with input from students. MC the event, making announcements as needed.

• Parties Follow-up post-Auction Apprentice: About a month before each auction party, extract the list of winning bidders and their contact information from the database and email the party hosts.

• Pledge Co-Counter:This entails working with another parent once a week to count pledge money and prepare bank deposits. This begins after the WATSA and continues through Thanksgiving, with a few straggling pledges after that.

• Publicity/Artwork: Publicize event to the surrounding community, including distribution of flyers to the neighborhood.

• Registration Coordinator: At the event, receive permission slips for students as they check in, and record their laps as they check out. Prepare list of top walkers to announce at the assembly.

• Replenishment Co-Lead: We have 2 water and orange stations along the walking route. Replenishment Co-Leads manage an orange cutting party the morning of the event. Then they make sure those two stations have enough water and oranges throughout the event. This does require some heavy lifting, so we usually recruit some dads to help out in this area as well.

• Silent Auction Data: Receive all donations and parties for the Silent Auction Catalog. Enter details into auction software and prepare catalog.

• Silent Auction Data Entry: Join the Data Leads and enter winning bidders into the auction software on the evening of the event.

• Silent Auction Event Management Coordinators: Oversee the auction setup and bidder sheets, and coordinate the item procurement at checkout.

• Solicitations Coordinator: Identify potential donors and solicit donations. Log all communications and give donations for Data Leads. Requires detailed documentation and attention to detail.

• Solicitations Assistants: Help the solicitations coordinator contact businesses. Can be done at home via phone and US Mail in the late Spring and Summer.

• Spiritwear Co-Lead: Order WATSA T-shirts and other spiritwear and help sell them at select times during the first weeks of school. One lead will also sell spiritwear at the event.

• Sponsor and Promo Solicitations: Find business donors to sponsor the event. Collect coupons/flyers/items for the goodie bag.

• Sponsor Hospitality Lead: This person works with the WATSA Chair to coordinate a space for all the businesses who will have a table at the event. The Lead greets them when they arrive, shows them to their space and makes sure they have what they need. Then he/she checks in with them during the event to make sure all is well. This year the businesses are generally limited to school-related activity offerings or child-welfare offerings, so their needs should be relatively minimal.

• Teacher and Staff Donations Coordinator: Be the contact person for Teachers and Staff and collect/document their donations.

• Technology: Help set up our computers and printers at the beginning of school, and set up the auction network on the day of the event.

• WATSA Treasurer: Act as the bank for all booths with cash boxes on the day of the event. Count the money at the end of the night and prepare the deposit.

• WATSA Volunteer Coordinator Apprentice: Several weeks before the event, you will work with the other leads to identify volunteer needs. Modify Konstella sign-ups, and direct volunteers on the day of the event.

• Webmaster: Add relevant WATSA content to the Bubb website. Convert Silent Auction catalog from MS Word format to online format.

• Wine Cellar Coordinator: Receive wine donations and assign numbers for bidding.

• WATSA Committee: If you're not sure which WATSA job you'd like but you want to help out, join the committee to hear about times when lots of general help is needed and to have the Chairs contact you to find the perfect role for you.

Enrichment

Chess Coordinator

Act as a liaison between parents, school office, and the chess club staff. Communicate with the MVWSD Interschool Chess Tournament and collect permission slips. Attend the tournament (April/May) to supervise Bubb students. Requires a few hours plus tournament attendance.

Garden Committee Co-Chair  

Need someone with a “green thumb” to lead projects and help maintain the gardens.

Garden Committee  

Have a "green thumb"? Join this group to lead garden projects with the kids and help maintain the school gardens. We need help in our two gardens: one for Kinder and one for the rest of the school.

Project Cornerstone Co-Lead  

Work with our experienced co-leaders to train our school’s monthly readers. Requires additional training and planning for a few of the lessons. Project Cornerstone books teach kids life skills to foster friendships, stand up for what is right, and prevent bully behavior. For more details, see PC ABC Reader Program.

• Project Cornerstone Reader: Sign up to read in your child's classroom once a month. Project Cornerstone books teach kids life skills to foster friendships, stand up for what is right, and prevent bully behavior. For more details, see PC ABC Reader Program.

• Project Cornerstone Display Preparation (August): Prepare a display for Back to School Night in August. Budget available.

• Project Cornerstone Service Project Coordinator: Plan a school-wide service/social action project in November. Budget available.

• Project Cornerstone Poster Preparation (September): Prepare Caring Adults Poster.

• Project Cornerstone Poster Updates: Update lesson posters monthly.

• Project Cornerstone Training Packets: Prepare monthly training handouts.

• Project Cornerstone Training Log: Log hours online for every Bubb reader at the beginning of every month.

• Project Cornerstone Training Set Up: Set up before training on the first Wednesday of the month.

Summer Reading Program Coordinator

Help tally logs and distribute new scholastic books to students that have successfully met their summer reading goals (Aug/Sept).

Talent Show Coordinator

Coordinate the show date, location, and acts. Responsibilities include advertising, processing applicants, screening content, holding talent show rehearsals, and overseeing the event.

Community Building

Family Events Committee  

Help our Family Events Co-Chairs to put on fun Family Events throughout the school year.  Past events include the Halloween Dance, Author Night, Math Night, Science Night, Bubb Beautification, Outdoor Movie Night, International Potluck event, etc.

Hospitality Committee  

Help put on the Welcome Coffee for Parents on the first day of school.  Help with shopping, setup, refilling and cleanup.

Teacher/Staff Appreciation Committee  

In May, help to recognize our amazing teachers and staff by coordinating a staff luncheon, decorating a few staff doors, and helping with thank you gifts.

Service

Emergency Preparedness

Purchase and organize inventory of emergency supplies in classrooms. Delegate classroom supply inventory to room parents and collect returned supply list. Replace used and expired materials (once in the beginning of the year). Work with school staff to confirm latest recommendations for emergency binders/supplies.

Fall Picture Day

Coordinate with office staff, teachers, photographer, and parent volunteers to escort students to get their pictures taken. Requires approximately 8 hrs, at school.

First Day Hospitality Coordinator  

Help coordinate and organize Bubb’s Welcome Coffee for Parents on the first day of school, e.g., shopping, setup, refilling and cleanup.

Food and Toy Drive Co-Leads  

Help coordinate and publicize our annual holiday food and toy drive, which occurs mid-November to mid-December.

Lost and Found Coordinator

Straighten the lost and found cart as needed and attempt to find owners of labeled items. When cart is full, advertise in the Bulletin, and after a reasonable time, donate to Good Will. Requires 4-5 hours per trimester.

MVEF Representative

Represent Bubb School at MVEF meetings, and represent MVEF at Bubb events (Back-to-School, kinder potluck, holiday concerts, art show.) Sell MVEF Gala raffle tickets in Feb/March. Requires about 4 hours/month.

Nominating Committee

Led by the Parliamentarian, this group recruits parents for the PTA Executive Board’s open positions. Effort occurs January - March, with the bulk in the latter two months. Can be done in person at drop-off and pick-up times and/or over email.

Staff Appreciation

In May, help to recognize our amazing teachers and staff by coordinating a staff luncheon, decorating the a few staff doors, and helping with thank you gifts.

Staff Holiday Wish Stars

Provide stars for teachers and staff to write their holiday wishes on, and hang string and clips for them outside their classrooms (December). 

General and Classroom Volunteering

General Volunteering Committee  

If you'd like to help with various activities on an as-needed basis, please click to join our General Volunteering Committee, or contact our Volunteer Coordinator (bubbvolunteer@gmail.com). You will then be notified of miscellaneous opportunities to volunteer throughout the year, both during school time and after hours.

Room Parents and Classroom Volunteers

Teachers generally ask for parents to sign up for these positions during Back to School Night, which this year will be on Wednesday, August 25, 2022. In the meantime, you're welcome to read about these positions above and our What does a Room Parent do? page.