A Great Volunteering Opportunity

Volunteering is an essential part of high school as it allows us to gain work experience, helps our resumes stand out, and most importantly for us high school students, the ability to graduate from high school. During the summer, I took part in an incredible volunteer opportunity that I genuinely enjoyed. It was a program called the Coquitlam School District's International Education Summer Program.

In the mornings, the volunteers helped out around the Riverside and Pinetree campus and aided people from all over the world. In the afternoons, volunteers got to go to different locations, such as the Metropolis at Metrotown, Stanley Park, and even Playland. The best part was that all of this was free while I acquired volunteer hours!

Through this program, I was able to get over 80 volunteering hours over a two-week period and had tons of fun with my friend. I personally thought that the experience was better with a buddy.

Overall, I am recommending this opportunity to anyone who is looking for volunteering hours and even for people who just want to have fun in during the summer. The only downside is that this program only runs during the summer meaning there aren’t any long-term shifts. For the international education summer program, scheduling is flexible means if you choose to participate in summer school, it wouldn’t interfere with the volunteering schedule. You are also able to choose whether you work in the morning, afternoon, or both, with each shift being 4 hours long.

For further information and sign-up forms, you can contact Jamie Askew at JAskew@sd43.bc.ca.

Written by Ray Peng