Re: Volunteer Coordinator & Mentorship Training

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Bonnie Byrd (bbyrd@wchsm.org)
Wed, 20 Nov 2019 15:30:49 +0000



From: "Bonnie  Byrd" <bbyrd@wchsm.org>
Subject: Re: Volunteer Coordinator & Mentorship Training
Date: Wed, 20 Nov 2019 15:30:49 +0000
Message-ID: <BN8PR16MB2899F5B6941175F64432B9D2A3700@BN8PR16MB2899.namprd16.prod.outlook.com>

In a previous life I was a lead interpreter for a crafts & trades departmen t at a living history site in Ohio. One of our practical answers to the sam e dilemma was to create internships & youth programs centered on learning t he specific crafts & trades - or traditional skills - that we demonstrated onsite. One of the immediate outcomes was that it encouraged/forced us to write down & document knowledge from the interpreters, volunteers & staff, otherwise responsible for those skills.

The intern program was offered during the summer, and targeted at local und ergraduate and older high school students. They committed to a set schedule
, 15 - 30 hours in a week. Each would read/research the trade they were ot herwise learning for demonstration - reinforcing not only the practical ski ll but giving them experience researching & translating research into progr ammatic content. While we had a staff person as the intern coordinator for interviewing/scheduling etc, the day-to-day interactions were between inter ns & interpreters.

With the youth programs, we did 1-week summer camps, and taught certain ski lls each week (cooking/baskets/bricks/pottery/brooms/spinning & weaving), c ulminating in the campers becoming costumed interpreters/docents on their l ast day. Some of the skills were necessarily amended for safety - ex. only adults tending fires or handling hot liquids - and we made sure appropriate
 disclosures were provided to parents. We also had a single person act as t he main counselor Age range for those was 8-12. The camps were also a reven ue generator for the site.

Both programs did translate into a volunteers who continued year over year;
 and to your point re: Volunteer Coordinator, benefited from a single perso n as the 'lead' to troubleshoot when necessary.

Happy to chat directly too!

Bonnie Byrd

Executive Director Waukesha County Historical Society & Museum

262.521.2859 x222 (o)

414.286.7577 (c)

bbyrd@wchsm.org |

<http://www.wchsm.org>

www.wchsm.org

________________________________ From: localhistory-request@listserve.uwec.edu < <localhistory-request@listser ve.uwec.edu> on behalf of Barron County Historical Society <ve.uwec.edu> on behalf of Barron County Historical Society <museum1@chibard un.net> Sent: Thursday, November 14, 2019 4:04 PM To: localhistory@listserve.uwec.edu <localhistory@listserve.uwec.edu> Subject: Volunteer Coordinator & Mentorship Training

Fellow Museums,

It has become evident to us that we need to address the rapid loss of the a bility to teach many of the traditional skills that we demonstrate at the P ioneer Village. We now have a Print Shop without a volunteer who is capabl e printing. Our soap maker is 92 and only comes for 4 hours, one day a sum mer. We have two brothers who operate the equipment in our box factory, an d the youngest brother is in his mid-eighties.

We identified the need to engage a volunteer coordinator and to have a ment orship program that will focus on passing these skills on. Do any of you h ave a similar plan in place or experience in this area. We feel that we ne ed a formal plan, because we have discussed and encouraged this for a long time, but without a set plan of how to actually get it done, only the very popular skills are getting passed down (blacksmithing, rug weaving, etc.).
 We would also appreciate it if you have a job description for a Volunteer Coordinator, whether that is a paid or unpaid position. Thank you.

Tamera Schutz, Executive Director

Barron County Historical Society

Pioneer Village Museum

(715)458-2080 office

(715)764-0158 cell



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