{"id":8456,"date":"2018-12-03T08:57:17","date_gmt":"2018-12-03T13:57:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/?p=8456"},"modified":"2018-12-11T11:17:14","modified_gmt":"2018-12-11T16:17:14","slug":"volunteer-spotlight-amy-white-birdneck-elementary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/volunteer-spotlight-amy-white-birdneck-elementary\/","title":{"rendered":"Volunteer Spotlight: Amy White, Birdneck Elementary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Each week a dedicated volunteer or community partner will be recognized for the time and talents dedicated to Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS).<\/em><\/p>\n

Amy White was a bus driver for the division when she began volunteering for Virginia Beach City Public Schools. She started small, volunteering in her son\u2019s kindergarten class, which quickly grew.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was in the school volunteering each day with my son\u2019s classes and wherever I saw the need for help,\u201d White explains. \u201cThe more time I spent the more I saw how important volunteering was for the teachers and the assistants.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each day after doing her morning route to Birdneck Elementary School, White would park her bus in the parking lot and come into the school to volunteer the rest of the day.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I wasn\u2019t on the bus, I was in the school,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

White was such a staple at Birdneck Elementary School that when an opening for an assistant library media specialist became available she was asked to join the school\u2019s team.<\/p>\n

Even though she now works during the school day, White still finds ways to volunteer her time. \u201cI help with setting up the morning announcements. I take photos at events. I also like helping people find where they can volunteer, which is probably why I enjoy being a community engagement liaison.\u201d<\/p>\n

White\u2019s main motivation for volunteering is bringing the family together.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf all the events that we\u2019ve had, the ones that involve engaging families are my favorite,\u201d said White. \u201cFamily is important and an important part of education, and I don\u2019t think people understand how much of a role family plays in a child\u2019s education. For them to see the school as not only an institution, but as a facilitator of bringing family together is remarkable.\u201d<\/p>\n

She is further motivated by the additional contributions volunteers bring to school every day, and believes those efforts influence the students.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a mentoring program where a group of adults come in and help the children read. Someone who is specifically spending time with them,\u201d said White. \u201cThat one-on-one attention doesn\u2019t go unnoticed by the students. I get pulled to the side by students asking if today is reading day all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

For White, helping people has been a lifelong love. \u201cI\u2019ve volunteered my whole life. I love it so much. I lived with and took care of my grandmother for 10 years. I volunteer with my church a lot. If you\u2019re not volunteering you\u2019re missing out on a lot of joy because volunteering brings joy to you and to the one you are helping.\u201d<\/p>\n

Volunteering has brought joy into White\u2019s life and a countless number of students. \u201cI always wanted six kids, but only had one. Now, I have more like 600 kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

Become a volunteer or community partner today and make a difference in students\u2019 lives. For more information on volunteering visit vbschools.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Each week a dedicated volunteer or community partner will be recognized for the time and talents dedicated to Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS). Amy White was a bus driver […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":8455,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[120],"class_list":["post-8456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-connections","tag-birdneck-elementary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8456"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8456\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8457,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8456\/revisions\/8457"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}