Torch - Fall 2017

HCPA

The Rewards of Volunteering By the Havergal College Parents Association (HCPA)

We are very fortunate to have so many parent volunteers helping out at community events. Parents can help out by volunteering for a few hours for a special occasion or by holding year-long positions, including Grade Reps, Green & Gold Shop volunteers or other HCPA roles. Parents find the experience rewarding and engaging, and our girls love having their parents involved in their school. Here are some words of wisdom from some of our HCPA volunteers.

Steven Rathwell: HCPA Junior School Treasurer

doesn’t have to be a huge time commitment if your schedule doesn’t accommodate it.” What he enjoys most about volunteering at Havergal is the opportunity to do these things with his daughter. “Signing up to help with the morning drop-offs is a good example. We get to do it together and I know that Ruby Jean enjoys walking the kindergarten students to their classes. It’s a great leadership opportunity for the girls and a small way for them to be part of the great HC community we have.”

Steven Rathwell, the HCPA Junior School Treasurer, has been involved at the school since his daughter, Ruby Jean (now in Grade 4), started Junior Kindergarten six years ago. That first year, he volunteered to be a food-plater at the BBQ station at Celebration Saturday. Since then, he’s taken on a variety of formal roles, including Class Rep (for the past three years), JS Treasurer and Chair of the Welcome Committee. He’s also helped out as skate tie-er (during Phys. Ed.) and hoodie carrier (for the Cross Country team). However, his favourite volunteering role was helping to plan the JS Father Daughter A Maze-ing Race event in spring 2017: “Planning out the Maze with Ruby Jean was really special to me. There were a few nights after school when we had almost all of the gym equipment out setting up all kinds of different challenges to try (dads—sorry about the blindfold: it was Ruby Jean’s idea). I hope those are memories that my daughter will remember when she looks back at her days in the Junior School.” Rathwell says that he was very hesitant to volunteer for things at first. Soon, he discovered how welcoming the faculty, Grade Reps and HCPA members are and how much they appreciate his help. “There are roles that are for short periods of time or one-off events that you can be part of. There

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There are many ways to give back to Havergal. For more information on volunteer opportunities, visit www.havergal.on.ca/ volunteer or contact the HCPA Chairs (Robyn Spector at spector@rogers.com and Mekhul Verma at mekhul.verma@gmail.com ).

“ Being a Grade Rep has been a lot of fun and it’s a great way to get to know the other parents. Grade Rep Convenors ensure the monthly meetings are useful sources of information and we get the chance to hear different presentations from the faculty about the upcoming events at the school.

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