To many of the student body at Miami Palmetto Senior High, they believe the heart of the school is the activities office. Others may say it is in the courtyard, the Pawvillion or even the field. However, according to the parent volunteers at MPSH, the attendance office is where you want to be.
“The most rewarding part is being at the school, getting involved with the students and working with the staff. Since it’s in a location where the CAP advisor’s there, the counselors are there, APS walk by and the security guards, it’s just nice to be involved with the school,” parent volunteer and head of office volunteers Esther Slazas said.
Running in three shifts a day, parent volunteers support the attendance office staff and student aides by helping parents sign their children out of school, handing out tardy passes and trying to answer any questions parents and students might have.
“There’s never two days in the office that are the same. Every day kids walk in either needing to speak to a counselor, speak to administration, see the nurse, see Mrs. Dwyer or look for something from the lost and found, and it’s just nice to be able to help them out and point them in the right direction,” parent and five year volunteer Jill Olster said.
Despite the obvious excitement of the attendance office, some parent volunteers find themselves more drawn to helping in the copy room.
“It lets me give back to my children’s schools in a way that I guess I couldn’t in any other way,” parent and four-year volunteer Deborah El-Assad said.
For four year office volunteer Jennifer Diemar, she is able to give back to both of her children’s schools, by simultaneously volunteering at Palmetto Middle School. In order to create a balance between the two volunteering jobs, there needs to be a set schedule with the other volunteers.
“We have a schedule that we share online, like on WhatsAPP, and we put it out for the next six months, and then people just fill in their name and the time that they can come in on a Tuesday or Thursday,” Diemar said.
Besides being able to see their children, this office job comes with an even bigger reward — being able to give back and help MPSH faculty and staff.
“I feel like [getting to meet my kids’ teachers] is to me one of the best perks, and getting to know the administration, and even just seeing the kids, meeting some of the different kids that are there, seeing my own kid there, is really nice,” Diemar said. “… I get a lot of gratification from helping out the teachers, because they’re very grateful for the help, they can really use it.”
While students look at the attendance office as a way of early release, what is occurring behind the scenes takes many hours of training and organization to ensure everything runs smoothly. To Slazas, it is the parent volunteers that make everything work out.
“A lot of what I do is successful because of the parent volunteers, the other parents that volunteer and are so willing to help out and be a part of the attendance [office] and try to do our best… Everyone’s giving up their time to help out with the school. And I think that’s a great experience,” Slazas said.
