This Year… Clearer Student Staff Job Expectations and a Handy-Dandy Check-In Checklist

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Over the summer I normally try to post a couple things that I learned over the previous school year. If you want see the series as it has developed over lots of years then click here. If you have anything you learned from last year that you would like to tell me about, send it my way smcgever (at) pv dot younglife dot org

Volunteers are the heart of the mission of YL. Take away all the staff people and the best YL areas would still keep going strong reaching kids faithfully. I was a volunteer for a long time before I came on staff and I have been surrounded by long-term faithful leaders who continually inspire me, I just try to keep up with them!

There is also a place for high quality staff people and the Student Staff role is where I started about twenty years ago. It looks different in many places, none are really the same. I have been honored to help develop and train Student Staff in our area and in our region for quite a while.

One of the challenges for Student Staff is to distinguish how it is different from being a volunteer. For over a decade our area has utilized simple guidelines and requirements for this which have been stated in an informal job description. The informal job description has made the distinction between volunteer and staff clearer and it has also given some concrete direction for our Student Staff to know exactly what to do for their “job”.

This year I added a twist, I simply created a check-in sheet with these criteria that we use as a discussion starter for our Student Staff meetings. It helps keep the bar high, the expectations clear, natural organic feedback in place, and is also used as a springboard for other conversations which go beyond the topics on the check list.

I actually have no idea who reads YLHelp (Bueller?), but I have a feeling the vast majority are volunteers. You are my heroes! Some of you are already going above and beyond the Student Staff expectations, thank you! Keep going! Some of you are going to look at this list and go for it on your own! Go for it. Some of you might wonder what staff people do and this might give you a small glimpse (in some areas they may require a lot more than this). Some like lists and checkboxes (probably that YLHelp guy huh?), while others cringe at the idea of anything like that. Either way, keep going, we make a great team and I’m excited to be running alongside you all in this.

Click HERE for the file.

Looking for summer camp follow-up/campaigners resources? Look here.

Looking for a way to get contact work started in the Fall? Look here.

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