Top 10 Tips for HP Kids Volunteers

1. Arrival time…

1^st service: arrive at 8:30

2^nd service: arrive at 10:15

Why so early? Children begin arriving at 8:45-especially our guests. Volunteers need time to pick up supplies and get everything ready prior to the arrival of kids.

We want their classroom to be ready when they arrive.

Between services…If you work at 9:00, please DO NOT leave the classroom until your replacement volunteer has arrived. If this volunteer does not arrive by 10:30, please send one of your volunteers to let us know (or ask someone else to tell us at the front desk). Please use this time to relay any needed information to the next volunteer.

When you arrive… You ALWAYS need to check in with the volunteer coordinator at the HP Kids information desk so that we can know you have arrived and are in your classroom. We will print you a name tag, and show you to your classroom. When you become a regular volunteer, we will give you a key tag and you can check yourself in each week at the self check in kiosk.

2. Scheduling details…

Each volunteer can choose one of 3 schedules: every week, every other week or once a month substitute. If you serve every week or every other week, you will be automatically assigned on our monthly schedule to your regular classroom.

Weekly Reminder: You will always receive a weekly reminder email on the week you are schedule to serve. This email will contain the names of your team mates, the lesson for your classroom, and any other specific instructions for that Sunday. If you receive this email, YOU ARE scheduled to serve. If you can not for any reason, let us know A.S.A.P.

Monthly Schedule: At the end of every month, you will receive an email from Amber with the next month’s schedule. Please review the schedule and make sure you are scheduled properly.

If there is a conflict with your schedule, let Jessica know A.S.A.P.

Every other week means that you will serve one week on and then one week off. You can simply mark this on your calendar by skipping every other Sunday.

Substitutes (once a month) – You will be called on to fill in once a month when a regular volunteer is out of town. We will either fill your name into a green slot on the monthly schedule or call or email you the week we need you to serve. If you see your name in a green slot on the monthly schedule email, please respond EITHER WAY to let us know if you can serve during that time.

Out of town?? – If you know you will be out of town on a date you are scheduled to serve, let Jessica know as soon as you know. This will help us prepare ahead of time. If we can make this change in our schedule before the new month begins, that is great!

3. Put our numbers in your cell phone…

If you need to back out of your scheduled time of service because of emergency or illness, please call a HP Kids staff member on our cell phone. Please call Jessica for classroom volunteers, Elissa for KidCity volunteers, or Amber. The numbers are listed on our weekly reminder email. Please save them in your phone so you will have them with you even if you are not near your computer.

Please DO NOT email us Saturday night or Sunday morning.
Please do not call after 10PM on Saturday night.
You can call anytime after 6 AM on Sunday morning.
Please let us know as soon as you can about your absence.

4. We provide all of your supplies…

You will not have to purchase or gather any supplies or “activity sheets” for your class. They will all be ready for you on Sunday in the blue basket with your class name on it.

Snacks are located in the closet to the right when you enter the supply room.

9:00 volunteers: Simply come to the supply room and pick up your blue supply basket.

10:45 volunteers: The supplies will already be in your room.

PLEASE drop off your blue supply bin back in the supply room

5. Babies, Babies, Babies…

Babies are VERY important to us at Highpoint. We want parents of new babies to feel comfortable and confident when they leave their little angel in our care.

There are several things that should ALWAYS happen when a child is in one of our baby rooms:

Feed: Check the take home sheet and feed the child according to the parent’s instructions. Mark the take home sheet after feeding.

Change: Make sure each child gets a diaper change during each service. Mark the take home sheet after diaper change.

Check: Check the parent’s tag to make sure the security code matches the one on the child’s nametag.

Give: Give the parent the take home sheet with the child’s bag and let them know what their child did that day.

6. Snack Rules…

We do provide snacks for the children, but our budget is limited. Please abide by these rules:

Graceland: 9:00 hour- water only to drink, goldfish (1 cup)

10:45 hour- juice box to drink, goldfish (1 cup)

K-6^th: ONLY get one snack per morning.

One juice box and one cup of goldfish.

Between the two services or at the beginning of 10:45 hour.

7. Our language…

Family Ministry- Partnership with parents of kids AND students

Highpoint Kids – Ministry to all kids from birth through 6^th grade

Graceland – Birth through Pre-Kindergarten

Mainstreet – Kindergarten through 2^nd grade

The Alley – 3^rd and 4^th grade

Highway 56 – 5^th and 6^th grade

KidCity – Worship environments for kids

Graceland KidCity for 2 through 4 year olds

Mainstreet/Alley KidCity from K-4^th grade

Thursdays at HP Kids – HP Kids is open for kids whose parents participate in an equipping class on Thursday morning and evening.

8. KidCity- how we worship…

KidCity is our WORSHIP environment for kids. Kids from age 2 through 4^th grade go to KidCity during their time in Graceland, Mainstreet, or The Alley during each service hour. Kids will sing worship songs and hear a relevant presentation of the bible story while in KidCity. KidCity is not the name of our entire kids ministry.

9. Vision of HP Kids and HP Family Ministry…

We believe that two combined influences make a greater impact than just two influences, so we want to partner with parents in everything we do!
Church (Yellow) + Home (Red) = Family Ministry (Orange)
HP Family Ministry exists to partner with parents to ground children in God’s word, grow children in God’s grace, and give children to God’s work.
The vision of HP Kids is to partner with parents to lead children to know Christ personally by creating environments of Worship, Connect, Equip and Serve.