Volunteer Speaking Partner program

The first college I attended was Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho.  Now it is Brigham Young University-Idaho, a four-year university. 

One of their current distance-education programs helps non-native English speakers improve their English while they learn other subjects such as math, writing, and life skills.  Each student is enrolled in a class with a professor and in addition has a Speaking Partner with whom they go over additional lesson components in English, using Skype.

I was paired with a delightful 27 year old student from Peru.  Every week we start out by telling each other about our week and any surprising things that happened.  Then we go through the lesson piece by piece, chatting about life as we go.  I really enjoy it and her.  AND I'm learning a little bit about Peruvial culture and life.

Speaking partner!

I volunteered through Brigham Young University-Idaho to have a speaking partner this semester.  I've been matched with a student in Peru and am very pleased.  As you might know, I do this kind of thing professionally, but this is my first time to volunteer with a student and for one in a country other than the US or Korea.

I expect to meet her on Skype later this week. :-)

Volunteer activity this past week

If you said you thought this was a monthly school staff luncheon hosted by the parents of two grades plus the PTA, you'd be right.

We had a nachos bar and everyone thought it was really delicious.

Included were:

chips
3 kinds of Mexican cheese sauce
beef
tomatoes
3 kinds of salsa
sweet peppers
sour cream
guacamole
jalapenos
shredded lettuce
olives
a dessert table with an assortment of cookies

I helped set up, then stayed on as the hostess to help the teachers and staff while they ate. I thought it tasted really good also. :-)

Some volunteer activities

I've gotten involved with several volunteer activities and thought I'd list them here:

Box Tops for Education coordinator for the girls' elementary school. The kids collect and turn in the printed coupons from General Mills packaging and the school gets 10 cents for each one. This involves sending out flyers promoting the project, collecting the coupons from each classroom, counting them, and submitting them on schedule at least twice a year.

Family History consultant for my ward in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I help church members with their family history and genealogy. Depending on need, I may go to their house or help them on Sundays at church. I use Ancestry.com a lot. I have fun teasing apart my family history puzzles using that site.

I'm a co-leader for a semi-monthly activity day for 8-11 year old girls (and their friends) at my church. My church has Cub Scouts for the boys, and a church-grown program for the girls.

I'm a moderator for a parenting site. I moderate a sewing board, a home and garden board, and a Mormon board.

I'm a moderator for a couponing site called A Full Cup. Every week I enter data on the sales at a local grocery store and promote discussion of the best deals available. I love this site because it helps me feed my family for less.

I sing in my church choir. I wish it were a little more rigorous because although I'm not a great singer, I like to sing things that are a little more complicated. However, I'm grateful to the conductor and the time and enthusiasm he brings to the choir.

I think that's it for volunteering. I just started an ASL class that meets once a week. I used to know a bit of ASL and am hoping to remember it again.