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Linn‑Mar highlights surge in volunteers, logs more than 20,000 hours last year
Summary
Community Relations Coordinator Angela Burke told the board the district has 1,928 approved volunteers as of Jan. 20 and reported more than 20,155 logged volunteer hours in the previous year, with substantial time in direct student interaction, lunchrooms and libraries.
Angela Burke, the Linn‑Mar Community Relations Coordinator, told the board on Jan. 20 that volunteer engagement in the district has increased and that volunteers contributed significant time to classrooms and events.
Burke reported that the district had 1,787 approved volunteers in the previous year with 20,155 hours logged by those who track their time; she said the majority of those hours were in direct interaction with students. As of the Jan. 20 meeting she reported 1,928 approved volunteers for the current school year and said she had completed orientations for more than 375 new volunteers this year.
Burke noted that volunteers are contributing more hours in lunchrooms and libraries this year, reporting 1,644 hours in those areas so far — exceeding last year’s total for the same tasks. She calculated a volunteer value using the Independent Sector estimate (cited as $28 per hour for Iowa in 2023) to estimate a district volunteer contribution of more than $582,000 in value.
Burke described recurring volunteer programs: America Reads Day (543 volunteer readers and 704 reading slots last fall), Encourage a Reader (pairing 125 students with weekly adult readers), more than 70 volunteer material workshops across elementary and intermediate schools, and large event staffing (Supernova used 769 volunteer spots). She also listed upcoming needs: roughly 56 volunteers to set up Opera Iowa in elementary buildings, 125 volunteers for Junior Achievement BizTown in April–May, 50 volunteers for solo festival, 135 volunteers for a middle‑school sewing unit and other event support needs.
Board members thanked Burke and noted the intergenerational nature of volunteer participation, including retirees and past employees returning to help. Burke encouraged staff and community members to contact building volunteer coordinators for specific opportunities.
The board did not take formal action on the volunteer report; the presentation was informational and included requests for community support on upcoming events.
