• VOLUNTEER INFORMATION

Odyssey's Volunteer Coordinator,
Donna Marcinik
733-0442 ext. 101

Odyssey's mission is to help each student reach their full potential working in partnership with you, our Odyssey families. Your child must have your full support at home and at school. To be admitted to Odyssey, each family commits to a minimum of 18 volunteer hours each school year (25 for 2 or more students attending). Our students count on your partnership and support.



Brevard Public Schools Volunteer/Mentoring Application & Security Check: [click here]

PTO officers information

If you would like to speak to a PTO officer please send an e-mail to this address:
PTOofficers@odysseycharterschool.com
If you want a specific officer please state that in your e-mail.

President- Patrick Love

Secretary- Donna Marcinik

Vice President- Christina Nichols

Treasurer- Gayle Whitworth

Faculty Representative- Linda Baker

Membership Chair- Lisa Chipman


Did You Know?

Odyssey families' you can receive one volunteer hour for every $20 donated or spent for an event, or on items sent to your child's classroom after the first of the year.There must be receipts turned in providing documentation for the $20 spent to provide a paper trail for the auditors.*This does not include the original classroom supplies at the beginning of the year.





Read Aloud Book Blub

The Read Aloud Book Club is a great way for parents to fulfill their volunteer hours. All that is required is for parents to read to their child every night for 15 minutes!

Reading aloud not only helps in the building of attention span and listening skills, the development of vocabulary and reading comprehension, but most importantly it creates a bond between the parent and the child. With so many working parents and single parent families, this is an excellent way for parents to spend quality time with their child.

Here's how the program works:

At the beginning of each month, your child submits the recording form (available on the downloads page) to the Homeroom Teacher. The forms are collected and parent hours are logged in. A maximum credit of one hour per week will be given per child. The parent then spends a minimum of 15 minutes per evening reading literature that is above the child's independent reading level. The parent selects read aloud books from the startup list of literature provided Odyssey Charter School.

Allow time for home discussions and sharing with your child the meaning of some of the vocabulary and ideas. Read slowly and with expression. Your child is learning reading habits by your modeling good reading. Be flexible. If your child does not enjoy the story, try another.

This program does not replace your child's independent reading, but it is an excellent addition to your child's education. At Odyssey, we believe that the Read Aloud Club will create a significant difference in the state achievement tests as welland nothing can surpass that warm, fuzzy feeling of a good night time read aloud with your child.






PTO Calendar

PTO meeting is Wednesday May 13,6:00 pm- Mrs. Keane,Mrs Madden, Mrs.Rasch and Mrs Grant's 1st Grade classes will perform onstage at the meeting. We will also be holding Board Elections.

Click HERE to download the 5K flyer/registration form

Visit Odyssey's Calendar page: HERE
 

Volunteer News

You are invited to stop in anytime to volunteer. I always have teachers looking for volunteers to copy,sharpen pencils, help with class projects,reading to children, cafeteria help, Scholastic book orders, an extra set of eyes on the playground, cutting, etc. We are
also looking for a volunteer to mow the nature trail. As always,thank you for any time that you can volunteer to Odyssey for our children.

All hours have been updated, and all volunteer applications have been entered into the school board data base for background checks for the 2008/2009 school year. You are welcome to email or call me for your total hours. Whenever you sign out on the volunteer computer, it will also give your toal number of volunteer hours. Thank you to all who have taken the time to give to our children, by volunteering at Odyssey. Here's to an even better 2009/2010!

Please feel free to contact me anytime at
marcinikd@odysseycharterschool.com , or 733-0442 xt. 101.

My thanks to everyone for all that you do, Donna Marcinik

Volunteer Questions and Answers

1. How can I get credit for volunteer hours already worked and for the Read Aloud program?
Your volunteer hours will be manually credited by the Volunteer Coordinator for time recorded on Volunteer sign-in logs at the front office. Read Aloud time noted on forms and returned will also be manually credited . If you are working on take-home projects, have the teacher approve your hours worked and forward them to the Volunteer Coordinator to add to your volunteer record. The read aloud forms are available on the downloads page.

2. How do I get credit for future volunteer hours when I work in the classroom, the front office, special projects, fundraising, or outside?
You will need to sign-up on the Volunteer tracking system called VIPS located in the front office. The process to enter your personal information will take 10-15 minutes and you can stop in anytime from 7:30 am-4:00 pm and before or after night PTO Meetings. Once you are in the VIPS system, you will sign-in each time you report to the school for volunteer work and print and wear a Volunteer Badge while on school property. After completing your volunteer work, sign-out of VIPS and your volunteer hours will automatically be credited. Background clearance will be completed within 4-5 weeks and you can then sign-in on the VIPS system.

Brevard Public Schools Volunteer/Mentoring Application & Security Check: [click here]

3. When are Parent Teacher Organization Meetings?
Visit Odyssey's Calendar page: HERE.

4. How can I find out when to Volunteer at the School?
Information is posted here, sent home with students in their backpacks once or twice each month as newsletters and notices, and announcement are made at monthly PTO Meetings. Volunteering in the classroom can be pre-arranged directly with teachers. By joining our Odyssey Email List, you will receive email updates about volunteer opportunities and upcoming events. To join the list send an email to Donna Marcinik.

5. How do I get fingerprinted if I want to work with children unsupervised for field trips or special classroom projects?

  • Sign-Up on VIPS computer system in front office to enter your personal information in database
  • Call Fingerprinting Service Company to prepay $61 by credit card and obtain authorization number at 1-877-357-7456 or online at www.flprints.com.
  • If paying by money order, skip step #2. Pay to the order of Fingerprint Services LLC.
  • No cash or personal checks accepted
  • Fingerprinting and background checks are done on Monday-Thursday 8:30 AM - 3:00 PM. Plan to spend about one hour for processing.
  • Additional questions can be directed to Brevard Public Schools Customer Service at 321-633-1000 x500.
  • Location: Brevard County Public School District, The Office of District and School Security, 2700 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Viera, FL 32940. The office is just west of The Avenues of Viera shops.
6. What if I work full time and cannot volunteer at the school during normal school hours?
You can accrue volunteer hours by participating in the Read Aloud program (up to 4 hours per month), by doing take-home projects for your child's teacher (make sure you have the teacher record and approve your volunteer time), by attending monthly night PTO Meetings, and working on our monthly Saturday Grounds-Keeping Work Days.

7. What if I have questions about my volunteer hours, teams or projects?
Contact Odyssey's Volunteer Coordinator, Donna Marcinik
(click email link or call 733-0442 ext. 101)