Applicants to the College of Education must demonstrate a commitment to teaching, the ability to meet professional standards, and an ability to work with ethnic groups other than their own. One of the best ways to meet these requirements and to find out if teaching is the profession for you is to interact with children and youth in school or community settings. The staff of the Office of Student Services will help you locate opportunities for volunteer or paid work with children.

Pre-education students are strongly encouraged to gain experiences with school-age children in educational settings. Other experiences with groups of children in recreational settings serve to further enrich classroom experiences. All of these experiences help students to explore the teaching profession and clarify their educational and professional goals. In addition, students applying to the teacher preparation program in the College of Education must provide documented examples of their prior work and volunteer experiences with school-age children.

The College of Education collaborates with local school districts to provide students with opportunities to work with classroom teachers and students so that they may gain valuable classroom experiences. These experiences provide opportunities for future teachers to gain insight about the work of teachers.

Word Cats / Math Cats
Future Teachers Club

Wildcat School

Wildcat School is a free public charter school closely affiliated with the University of Arizona. Through this affiliation the College of Education hopes to learn how to best serve a student population (low socio-economic and often times ethnic language minorities) that have been academically failed by the traditional school system. The College of Education is interested in learning how to best meet the academic needs of middle school students that are not at grade level (and are often far below). The mission of the school is to teach students how to learn by providing them with the means to acquire varied 'skill sets' such as academic study skills, healthy social skills, critical thinking skills, and constructive behaviros necessary to become a successful learner, thus laying the groundwork for a rigorous high school experience that would lead to attainable collegiate goals.

The school offers a unique mentoring/tutoring opportunity for UA students. As a mentor/tutor you will have the opportunity to work with a small group of students (3-5) and gain personal insight on working with middle school students who need help academically. UA student participation also offers an opportunity to apply some of the activities and skills being acquired in their classes as they prepare to be teachers.

For more information about the mentoring program, please contact Dr. Sara Chavarria.

Other opportunities in the community

The following is a listing of community service agencies who may have volunteer and/or work opportunities available:

Child and Family Resources—Volunteer positions are available in several programs: phone responders are needed for Kidline; group facilitators are needed for Pre-adolescent Diversion Program; recreation leaders are needed for Happy Hours site-based after-school program. Contact Elizabeth Campbell at 320-4020, for more information.

City of Tucson Parks & Recreation Department, KIDCO Program—Positions are available for recreation workers for after-school program. Please contact the volunteer coodinator at one of their three sites:
Ronni Kotwitcha at 791-5915, ext. 126 at the southwest
site; Terry Nierzwicki at 791-5934, ext. 121 at the east
side site; Mary Rotter at 791-4834, ext. 21 at the northwest site.

Flowing Wells Extension Program—Tutors are needed for after-school tutoring program in all subject areas. K-12 after-school program pays $6/hr. Contact Sherrie Ramirez at 887-2600. Applications are available at 1661 W. Prince Rd., Ste. 103.

Lohse YMCA—Volunteers are needed to work as caregivers in the Holsclaw Child Care Center with infants-five-year-olds and in the School Aged Child Care Program. Contact Shannon Voorhees at 623-9211, for more information.

Pima County Parks and Recreation—Program assistant positions are available to work with children and teens in neighborhood centers located throughout Pima County. Contact Lacey Gould at 877-6150, for more information.

Project YES—Students are needed as classroom aides and tutors for elementary, middle, and high school students. Contact Sr. Judy at 884-1602. Students are also needed to tutor K-12 students in an after-school program. Contact Sr. Mary Anne at 884-1602 for afterschool program.

Boys and Girls Club—Please contact the Administration Office at 573-3533 to receive information about the four clubhouse locations.

Opportunities in local schools

Local schools also offer many opportunities for students to volunteer as tutors and/or classroom aides. The following is a listing of Tucson area schools where volunteer opportunities may be available:

Academy of Math and Science
Contact Marie Buick at 293-2676.

Amphitheater Public Schools

Catalina Foothills School District
Contact the principal at the school in which you are interested.
The District Administrative Offices can be reached at 299-6446.

Flowing Wells School District
Contact the Volunteer Coordinator at the school in
which you are interested or the District Office at 690-2207.

Marana Unified School District
Contact Toni Bush at the District Office at 682- 4773.

Sunnyside Unified School District
Contact the school in which you are interested or the
District Office at 545-2000 to receive placement assistance.

Tanque Verde School District
Volunteers should contact the school principal directly
and arrange for an appointment with the principal or
the Administrative Office at 749-5751, ext. 103.

Tucson Unified School District
Contact the Volunteer Coordinator: Partners in Education
at 225-6402 at the beginning of each semester.