VOLUNTEER PATHWAYS

Volunteers are the heart of this.

Every session a student attends happens because someone showed up to run it. You don't write lessons — the materials do the teaching. You open the room, hold it, notice the kid who's stuck, and celebrate what they made. Here's the path for each kind of volunteer, what it asks of you, and what you get.

Parents & caregiversHost at your child's school, support families, become a Family Navigator. TeachersSite Lead. Run the club in your building with zero prep. High school studentsEFF Leader. Start and run a chapter for the students at your own school. College students & EFF chapter membersChapter Mentor for high-school chapters. Community & faith leadersBridge Partner. Sponsor a chapter; open doors kids can't open alone. Administrators & districtsPartner. Set the terms, see the data, scale what works.

Parents & caregivers

Role: Family Navigator or Host volunteer

What you'd do

  • Co-host club sessions with the Site Lead at your child's school — open the room, hand out printables, keep it moving.
  • Run a parent circle: once a month, the Parent Navigator tools, in your language.
  • Be the parent who tells other parents it's real.

What it asks

  • About two hours a month.
  • A background check through Checkr before working with students (you get your own copy).
  • A one-hour EFF training: safety, what a session is, what we never do.
  • Whatever the school requires on top — badging, fingerprinting, their clearance.
The path
  1. Interest form (two minutes; no child's information).
  2. Checkr background check.
  3. EFF volunteer training (one hour, online or in person).
  4. Placement with a school chapter that has a Site Lead.
  5. Family Navigator recognition after a semester.
Parent interest form

Teachers

Role: Site Lead

What you'd do

  • Run the EFF Future Graduate Club in your building: 30 minutes, once a week, from the kit. Project the link, share the room code, hit start.
  • Notice and route: the kid who's stuck, the kid who said something a trusted adult needs to hear.
  • Host visiting volunteers — you're the adult of record.

What it asks

  • Your normal club or specials block. No prep, no grading, no slides to build.
  • You're already vetted by your district; EFF asks only for the one-hour training.
  • A two-page report after eight sessions (a template does most of it).
The path
  1. Interest form and a 15-minute call with EFF.
  2. Principal sign-off (EFF sends the one-pager and safety note).
  3. Training, then the first kit lands in your inbox.
  4. Eight sessions. Report. Decide whether to continue.
  5. PD hours where your district allows; a Site Lead credential from EFF.
Teacher / school interest form

High school students

Role: EFF Leader · Chapter Founder · Chapter Officer

What you'd do

  • Start an EFF chapter at your school with a teacher sponsor. Run the meetings. Recruit.
  • Lead your peers: run the high-school missions for your own chapter — scholarships, applications, aid letters, interviews, the road after graduation — with the sponsor in the room.
  • Lead a service project and a scholarship search party each semester.
  • Be the student other students go to when they don't know what a word means or what a deadline is.

What it asks

  • A faculty sponsor and your school's club approval.
  • EFF student-leader training (two hours).
  • You lead students at your own school only. EFF Leaders don't work with elementary or middle schoolers — that's for screened adult volunteers and college mentors.
  • Keeping your own grades up — the chapter is proof, not a substitute.
The path
  1. Chapter interest form; find a sponsor.
  2. Charter: EFF sends the Chapter Charter; you and your sponsor sign it.
  3. Training; officers named.
  4. First semester: meetings, one service project, one hosted mission for your chapter.
  5. Grade-level certificate; a guaranteed seat in an EFF collegiate chapter; the REACH Ambassador track.
Start a chapter

College students & EFF chapter members

Role: Chapter Mentor

What you'd do

  • Mentor a high-school chapter: attend meetings, back up the EFF Leaders, answer the questions nobody else can ("what's a hold?", "how did you actually pay?").
  • Co-host elementary and middle-school missions with a Site Lead — screened adults and college mentors are who work with younger students.
  • Be the person a 10th grader can picture being in three years.

What it asks

  • Checkr background check and EFF training before any contact with minors.
  • Two to four hours a month during the semester.
  • Boundaries: no private messaging with students, no rides, no one-on-one behind closed doors. The training covers all of it.
The path
  1. Apply through your EFF collegiate chapter or the interest form.
  2. Checkr, then training.
  3. Matched to a high-school chapter near campus.
  4. Leadership hours; the EFF alumni ladder.
Mentor interest form

Community & faith leaders

Role: Bridge Partner

What you'd do

  • Sponsor a named chapter: cover the printables, the snacks, the end-of-year certificates.
  • Open doors: a job shadow, a site visit, a professional who'll do a mock interview.
  • Host a parent circle or a session in your space — a church hall works.

What it asks

  • Anyone from your organization who works directly with students goes through Checkr and training like every other volunteer.
  • Resources, not curriculum — EFF supplies what's taught.
  • A yearly conversation about what the partnership did.
The path
  1. Partner interest form.
  2. A call with EFF to match what you can offer to what a chapter needs.
  3. Partnership letter; named-chapter recognition.
  4. A yearly impact page for your community.
Community partner form

Administrators & districts

Role: Partner

What you'd do

  • Approve pilots at participating schools, then set the terms for expansion.
  • Sign the MOU that spells out safeguarding, data, and who's responsible for what.
  • See the report: what students could do, what they made, what families said.

What it asks

  • A named district contact.
  • Your volunteer vetting process applied to every EFF volunteer on campus — EFF screens too, but yours governs.
  • Authorization before any student data moves; EFF collects the minimum and no child PII at interest stage.
The path
  1. School or district interest form.
  2. EFF sends the one-pager, the safety and consent note, and the Chapter Charter.
  3. Pilot: participating schools, selected grade bands, eight sessions, and a report.
  4. District charter: the terms for every school that wants it.
School or district form

What every volunteer agrees to

  • Screened before students. Every volunteer who works with students under 18 completes a criminal background check through Checkr. Schools keep their own requirements on top; where theirs are stricter, theirs apply.
  • Trained before hosting. The one-hour EFF training is required. It covers safety, what a session is, and what we never do.
  • Never alone with a child. Two adults, or an open door in a visible space. No private messaging, no rides, no gifts.
  • Not a counselor, not a lawyer, not a doctor. If a student tells you something that needs help, you don't handle it — you route it to the Site Lead and the school's procedure the same day.
  • Minimum data. You don't collect student information. You don't photograph students without the school's consent process.
  • You deliver, you don't invent. Sessions come from approved kits. You never improvise instruction, advice, or assessments.

Verification required before publishing: the Checkr package used, re-screening interval, and whether training is completed before or after the interest form.