Field Day volunteer vent

[descovy]

Our school is new this year, but the little group of ladies in charge of "programs" think we need to start off HUGE like established schools in the area (rather than starting smaller and working up to larger programs)

Case in point... nearby school (that we just rezoned from this year) has an annual carnival in April. It is a big, big deal with commitees forming in the fall to plan this thing, corporate sponsors the big she-bang. Which is fine because they work on it ALL YEAR LONG!

So at new school this year, March 1, we hear they want to do a carnival March 29. Sounds great. but OMG they are hurt for volunteers. Frantic, frantic emails, everyone needs to cover an hour in their class at a booth (so if you have 3 kids, yup, 3 hours!) never mind it was 4 weeks away (and the weekend before Easter) and my calandar... as well as others were already booked. Poor planning plus trying to be TOO BIG equalls desperate, desparte emails.

So comes May 1... we're told we're going to have a field day this Friday (14th)Sweet. They send out a call for volunteers, and several of us step-up (myself included for one shift... even though I have 3 kids) Today the 12th come the desperate, desperate emails...

OMG!! We "need" 40 volunteers per shift, (2 shifts) so kids can go throu 28 "stations" (80 volunteers!) Right now they have about 20-25 volunteers per shift. (46 total)

I dunno, can't the kids have a great field day without having 28 EVENTS??? Can we be managable and work with the volunteers we got? Or do we always have to be "bigger" and "better" Remember, parents got 2 week notice. I'm only available because I already had the day off of work.

I don't know this coordinator personally, but I have emailed her earlier about "starting small" when she decided we needed to have 13 afterschool clubs next year, but only had volunteers to run 3-4 clubs... and she and her "crew" totally dismissed me. I don't fit in this "super-mom" mold, but I try to help when I can... but I'm afraid eventually I'm going to get too annoyed to help at all... and just stick to "teacher requests"

So yes, long vent, but do you think a field day can be run with 25 volunteers and maybe 15 stations? Or is that just too "Micky Mouse" for a "good school"??

 

[padams]

Veteran field day mom volunteer checking in here...

How many kids will attend? You need enough stations so that the kids are not standing around with nothing to do (but cause trouble).

 

[descovy]

Well maybe that's it... three grades (K-2) later (3-5) and each grade has about (??) 100 kids in it.

I dunno, it seems like an awful lot to expect 80 volunteers with two week notice...

 

[padams]

Ok, that's 600 kids. If everyone has field day at the same time, you would have 40 kids at each of your 15 stations. I suggest that if you can, split up field day into 2 groups, K-2 and 3-5. One group goes in the morning and one in the afternoon, perhaps. You would then have 20 kids at a station. It's doable if you choose activities such as relays, tug of war, egg or water balloon tosses, etc. in which a bunch of kids can compete at once. You want to avoid having 1 kid do something, while the other 19 are bored waiting for their turns.

Finally, any good field day has popsicles at the end (or at least that's what we're told at DSs' elementary school).

 

[descovy]

Ok, that's 600 kids. If everyone has field day at the same time, you would have 40 kids at each of your 15 stations. I suggest that if you can, split up field day into 2 groups, K-2 and 3-5. One group goes in the morning and one in the afternoon, perhaps. You would then have 20 kids at a station. It's doable if you choose activities such as relays, tug of war, egg or water balloon tosses, etc. in which a bunch of kids can compete at once. You want to avoid having 1 kid do something, while the other 19 are bored waiting for their turns.

Finally, any good field day has popsicles at the end (or at least that's what we're told at DSs' elementary school).

That's just it... we are split in 2 shifts... 3 grades (300 kids) in the morning, 3 grades (300 kids in the afternoon) 28 stations / 40 volunteers at each shift for 300 kids.

Together that's 80 volunteers that they want. Again, with 2 weeks notice

Maybe it has to be that big, but ask for volunteers with more advance notice... right know they have about 20-25 volunteers per shift and just "hope" that another 20 or so have a change of plans and can come. Seems to me the easier answer is to SIMPLIFY

 

[padams]

I was trying to say I agree with you. You don't need that many stations and 80 volunteers. Our elementary has similar numbers and I would say there are about 25 volunteers each year. We also run about 15 activities.

Logistically, where would you put 28 stations? I know our playground and field couldn't handle that many activities.

You just need to to have events that use multiple kids at once. With the right events, you cut your volunteer number in half.

Good luck! Our school is filled with moms who overplan.

 

[disneydreamer98]

Wow. That does sound like a lot of volunteers for field day! Maybe they just need to re-evaluate how they are actually running the field day. It sounds like your school size is about the same as ours and the gym teacher (who is in charge of planning and setting up the events) is lucky if he gets 10 volunteers and we do just fine!

I agree that maybe they are trying to put too much together in too short of time. That would have to be incredibly stressful! Good luck!

 

[shortbun]

Just go and do your part. Let the overachievers deal with their mess. If you see a child running toward the road, stop him. (smirk)

 

[laurie31]

Holy cow!! We had Field Day last Friday.

750 kids, all at once. 15 stations. 6 grades. 1 Volunteer at each one. Even if they did one hour shifts, that would be 45 volunteers, but I think they did more hours, which meant less people needed.Two classes of each grade were at a station together. For the younger grades, this was 30-45 kids and it was more like 60 kids together for 5th grade.

Ours was 8:30-1:30, then there was a teacher's softball game from 1:30-2:30 that they all watched. They were ready to sit and do nothing by then, and they love watching the teachers run around and play.

Our stations were divided between indoor and outdoor to give the kids a break from the heat, plus moving in and out took up time ;-)

Things like Tug of war, all the kids did at once, but most were set up as relays, and the kids were divided into 4 teams, so they didn't have to wait long for their turn to carry the egg, grab the baton, etc. They had a 30 min break for lunch, and three 15 min breaks for water and bathrooms. Each station was 15 minutes.

Twenty-eight stations???!

 

[MM27]

At my school, field day volunteers are high school students. We have about 20 events so each class is split in half and start at different places. The teachers rotate between their two groups and any parents that come (we don't get many) stay with their child's group. The high school kids run the events, under the direction of our PE teacher and the Athletic Director of the High School.

 

[mom2travel]

At DD's school the PE teachers organize the field days. There is a separate day for each of grades K-5. The first half of the day is races - running and fun relays. The second half of the day is stations - ten of them. They ask for about a 12-20 volunteers for the morning to get kids organized at the starting gate and write out ribbons. They need 10-20 for the afternoon, 1 or 2 for each station. There are about 100 kids per grade

It sounds like your group of ladies has a keeping up with the Joneses complex. Yikes! Nothing like committing to something you don't have the time or resources for. Hopefully it won't discourage others from becoming more involved next year

 

[ilovejack02]

Just go and do your part. Let the overachievers deal with their mess. If you see a child running toward the road, stop him. (smirk)

LMAO... My child did this last week at school fair, dang I think we needed more of those overachiever volunteers at our school that day , cuz no one stopped him and he made it all the way home before he quit running.

( yeah I know I am laughing now, wasn't last week )