Parents like Gabriela Garcia are essential to the success of our students, district and community. Garcia, mother of two Irving ISD students, has served as a volunteer in the district since 2012. Leonel is in kindergarten at Brown Elementary and Fidelmar is a freshman at Nimitz High School. Garcia says that she began volunteering when Fidelmar was a student at Brown Elementary because she wanted to be involved in his education and contribute to Irving ISD and the school.
“We do everything from assisting in the classrooms to fundraising and planning campus activities,” she says. “We’re there to help in any way we can.”
National Volunteer Recognition Week is celebrated annually during the third week of April and Garcia encourages parents to get involved and volunteer at their children’s campuses.
“Schools like parent involvement, and it helps students succeed when they see their parents succeed,” she adds. “It also gives students a little push of excitement when they know their parents will be on campus.”
Parents also benefit from volunteering because it gives them an opportunity to get an inside look into what their students are doing and build closer relationships with faculty and staff on campus.
Garcia currently serves as the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) president at Brown Elementary and encourages parents interested in joining to contact their child’s campus to learn more about volunteering opportunities.
The community is also invited to learn more about the district’s volunteer opportunities at this weekend’s Community Resource Fair, which will be held on Saturday, April 23, from 10 AM – 2 PM at Irving High School. For more information, visit IrvingISD.net/ResourceFair.
