Making it Work: Volunteering in a Pandemic
A year ago, when I thought about becoming a SEAL president, I wondered what my legacy would be. How would I change the organization? What new traditions would I start? What would my main goal be? Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to choose my own legacy; COVID-19 has shaped my journey as SEAL president from the start.
I became president in April 2020—about a month into lockdown in Texas. We had already canceled all of our SEAL volunteering for the spring semester. No one knew what schools would look like in the fall. No one knew if they would be in-person or virtual. But I did know that the pandemic had exacerbated the effects that educational inequity has on the students and schools we worked with. I wanted to find the best way possible to support our students with SEAL during this time.
The other officers and I started planning right away. We had multiple Zoom calls over the summer with our partners at Communities in Schools to brainstorm ideas for what virtual volunteering could look like. We spent our free time researching e-book resources, exploring digital get-to-know-you games, and practicing Zoom engagement techniques for children. Our plan was to start virtual volunteering at all 12 of our schools in the last week of September. But, as the Rolling Stones say, you can’t always get what you want.
Come September, we experienced a few logistical setbacks. Our schools were trying to get a handle on distanced learning and COVID safety, and they were not ready to throw SEAL volunteers into the mix. So, we waited. In the meantime, we did community-building activities with the volunteers we had already recruited. Even if the time hadn’t come for us to be working with students, we would make sure we would be prepared for when it did.
Then, in November, we got word that two of our schools were ready for SEAL volunteers. I would be lying if I said that we weren’t a little disappointed at first that we would only be working in two schools. But we quickly remembered that reading with some kiddos is better than not reading with kiddos at all. So, we started our virtual volunteer program at Andrews and Wooten Elementary Schools. Our virtual system involves having our volunteers on group Zoom calls for community-building activities and then splitting off into break-out rooms for reading time. We found a wonderful e-book library on a site called Oxford Owl, and we have our volunteers share their screen with their buddy to read together.
As of March 2021, we are currently volunteering in four schools with about 50 volunteers. It has been amazing to see how excited our buddies get to read and play games together, even over Zoom. (My buddy, for one, loves to draw, and she will annotate the screen as we read together!)
This year has been a journey. And although there are things I wish had been different, I am astounded by the resilience of our volunteers and kiddos. Here’s to making it work!
- Katy Roberson, SEAL UT President 2020-2021
