Tu B’shevat Coordinator

This job requires a person who is organized, who can supervise other people and can communicate with classroom teachers as well as other parents.  This school-wide event usually takes place between mid January –mid February.  It requires making several phone calls to other volunteer parents who will need specific information in order to do their job (all of which will be written out both for the Coordinator and the other volunteers).  Initial phone calls should be made 3 weeks in advance of the program.  The Coordinator will also need to be present to supervise disbursement of all materials for the Tu b’Shevat Seder to classrooms on the morning of the event.  He/she should be at BJEP in Shiffman 217 to help set up all the materials and supervise, not later than 9:20 AM on the morning of the event.

Coordinator:

A month before the program, the Coordinator will ask the Assistant Director for a list of numbers of teachers and students in each classroom and the exact location of each class including building and room number.  This list should also include any class where students have allergies to tree nuts, strawberries, kiwi fruit, etc. as well as the teacher’s email addresses. This information should be forwarded by email to the phone parent and the classroom volunteers*. It should also be printed and made available in Shiffman 219 on the morning of the event so that appropriate materials can be assembled and delivered to each classroom.

*The coordinator must have, or create, a list of parent’s in each class whose volunteer job it is to help in the class with Tu b’shevat activities.

The Coordinator will call all of the purchasing parent volunteers at least 3 weeks prior to the school-wide Tu b’Shevat celebration.  He/she should be very familiar with each job, with the materials needed, with their disbursement and with the program for the morning so that everything can be divided and delivered to classrooms efficiently and in a timely manner.     All materials should be brought to Shiffman 217 (adjacent to the office) not later than 9:30 AM on the morning of the program. (NO EXCEPTIONS)

• The Coordinator will also have to know where each of the materials can be purchased.  (All of that information is included here.)
• The Coordinator will make a list of every class, which room it is in and note any class where students have allergies. This should be clearly printed and emailed to all volunteers 2 weeks prior to the event.  I t should also be made available in Shiffman 219 on the morning of the event.

Individual volunteer jobs for school-wide Tu b’Shevat celebration:

Paper goods Volunteer:
Each classroom will need for each student:
•    small paper plates
•    clear plastic cups
•    napkins

Juice Volunteer:
Each class will need 1 bottle of white grape and 1 bottle of regular grape juice

Fruit Volunteer: will need to bring:
•     a variety of fruits, especially those grown in Israel.  There should be enough of each of the following categories of fruits for each student to have one piece.  There are 220 students enrolled at BJEP.  Perhaps the Coordinator should assign one person to buy each of the fruits; for example one person can buy 40 bananas and 50 oranges; another could buy enough apricots so that 220 students can each have one or two.  ATTENTION! Experience tells us that it is well worth paying attention to the likes and dislikes of children.  It is strongly recommended that the fruits in bold take priority and that there be variety, for example banana and orange or dates and apricots.  This food is instead of snack on this day. All fruit, except for bananas, should be washed, cut up in advance and placed in individual ziplock bags labeled by class/grade name. Apple slices should be spritzed with lemon juice to avoid browning. If bananas are served they should be sliced in the classroom.
1.    Those with a peel or shell which cannot be eaten (pineapple, banana, orange)
2.    Those with a pit inside that cannot be eaten (prunes, dates, apricots, olives)
3.    Those that are edible both inside and out ( raisins, grapes, strawberries, apples, pears)
4.    Carob (get the chips at the Butcherie on Harvard Street in Brookline small amount per classKnives:
•   Plastic knives a few per class.

On the day of the event all volunteers should meet in Shiffman 219 and divide the items in brown bags and distribute them to the classes no later than 10:00am

Please note: Parents will only be reimbursed for expenditures over $50 with the first $50 deducted.

Updated 3/2/2010