John Dewey offers many extracurricular programs to its students. Programs like volunteering services, internships, after school clubs, and much more. There´s one activity that many students don’t know about and that is volunteering at the Nurses Office.
Ruhshona Asadova, a senior who has been volunteering since her junior year said, ¨ I discovered this opportunity during Ramadan, since I was fasting, I didn’t want to be in the cafeteria. At that time, I heard that my friend was volunteering there. I went to talk to the Nurses and the only thing I had to do was get a recommendation from a teacher and swear on the HIPAA law to get the position.”
Asadova’s day to day work looks like, “Filing student information in the correct order. Answering phone calls when needed. Handing students things like band aids and ice packs. Overall keeping a professional manner when facing particular difficult students or situations.”
Speaking about the impact of volunteering at the office Asadova said, “This is a big opportunity for me because I plan on pursuing a career in the medical field and the early experience, I get here at Dewey allows me to familiarize myself early on.” Adding, “While working here I learned that I have more patience than I initially thought I did. Filing documents is a very long and tedious process especially when you have 48 minutes to file 50 students.”
Regarding the benefits she’s getting she said, ¨ Working in a medical environment will help me prepare for future situations. In addition, I am also receiving volunteer hours when I help out.”
Nurse’s Aide Starlit Sherwood provided insight on the benefits of volunteering in the office, ¨For starters, I give service credits which not only looks good on college applications but also on your resume in the future. Secondly, by volunteering here you get early experience in the life of being a nurse and it’s always better to have some sort of experience than none.”
Talking about the assistance Sherwood is getting she added, “Student volunteers make my work easier, all my filing is in your hands, and I trust that. I feel confident to leave you guys in charge of inputting information to ATS. Student volunteers help provide better service when things get busy and a lot to handle.”
Speaking about the qualifications to volunteer Sherwood said, “Trustworthy students, it is extremely important because the things done here MUST remain confidential, what is said in here stays in here. Hardworking students who are responsible and can handle the stress of working here”. Adding “Students able to handle both volunteering and their grades, I only choose students who perform well in their classes and recommendations by their teachers”. and lastly, “People who are interest and are passionate about having a career in medical field in the future.”
