The holiday season is upon us. It’s that time of year to enjoy drinking eggnog lattes, holiday shopping and family gatherings. It’s also a great time of year to think about how you can give back to your community. Lake Washington School District’s (LWSD) LINKS Mentoring Program is looking for volunteers. In as little as one hour per week, you could positively impact the life of a child in our community.
LINKS stands for Looking Into the Needs of Kids and Schools. Funded by the Lake Washington Schools Foundation (LWSF), LINKS is the LWSD community mentoring program. It places adult community members into academic mentor, lunch buddy and tutoring programs throughout LWSD. Become a LINKS volunteer today!
Here’s how you can help:
• Become an academic mentor: Academic mentors are carefully matched with a student at the middle or high school level. This volunteer opportunity takes place during the school day. The timeframe can vary from 30 minutes to an hour. Core classes (math, reading, science and writing) are often the subjects where students need extra help.
• Become a Lunch Buddy: Lunch Buddies are matched with an elementary student and they meet one day each week during the student’s lunch hour. Volunteers bring their own lunch and meet the student in a designated area. Most schools have fun games the volunteer and student can play together. They talk, laugh and have fun. Volunteers often share that it’s the best day of their week.
• Become a tutor. Tutoring provides academic support to one student or a group of students, typically focusing on one subject. This volunteer opportunity is held during school hours or during an after school study program in an assigned area.
Volunteers are needed throughout Redmond, Kirkland and Sammamish to help provide valuable support to students. Teachers and counselors submit requests for volunteers to support students academically and socially to assist kindergarten through high school students.
Here are some of the specific needs we are hoping to fill:
Redmond
• Tutors: Redmond Middle School and Redmond High School
• Lunch Buddies: Dickinson Elementary, Einstein Elementary, Redmond Elementary and Rush Elementary
Kirkland
• Tutors: Finn Hill Middle School and Lake Washington High School
• Lunch Buddies: Lakeview Elementary and Muir Elementary
Sammamish
• Tutors: Eastlake High School and Inglewood Middle School
• Lunch Buddies: Mead Elementary
Most volunteer opportunities are 45-60 minutes per week. Volunteers are asked to commit to their assignment through the end of the school year. Make a difference in a school near you by becoming a LINKS volunteer.
To learn more about LINKS volunteer opportunities, visit the LINKS page on the LWSD website at: http://www.lwsd.org/LINKS. To register for an upcoming volunteer orientation, email Nanci Wehr at nwehr@lwsd.org or call (425) 936-1410.
Lake Washington School District
