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Volunteer training
- 1. For Le Rocher Bookstore at the Visitors’ Center Starved Rock State Park
- 2. Implementation Schedule Total length of volunteer training for the Le Rocher Bookstore in Starved Rock State Park Visitor’s Center: 3 hours. Group meeting to review training material: Wednesday, June 25, 2014 at 3 pm in Visitor’s Center. Training walk-through date: Monday, June 30, 2014 at 1 pm. Anticipated start date: Friday, July 11, 2014 at 9 am.
- 3. Volunteer Training Course for Le Rocher Bookstore Introduce key people at the Visitors’ Center and the Le Rocher Bookstore. Give a short introduction to the park. See the short film about Starved Rock. Give brief tour of Visitor’s Center, Starved Rock Lodge, and the trail to Starved Rock. Take a break with refreshments. Discuss bookstore duties and scheduling (PowerPoint).
- 4. Goals for Volunteer Training Volunteers will be familiar with Starved Rock State Park. Volunteers will be familiar with the Starved Rock Visitor’s Center. Volunteers will be familiar with the LeRocher Bookstore and some of its procedures.
- 5. Volunteers All ages and both sexes over 18. Must be able to learn to operate cash register. Good readers desired. Must want to benefit Starved Rock.
- 6. Goal #1: The Starved Rock State Park LeRocher Book Store volunteer will be familiar with Starved Rock State Park. Objectives: Given a short film on the history of Starved Rock State Park and handouts, the new Starved Rock State Park LeRocher Book Store volunteer will be able to give a brief history of the park to a visitor of the park. Given a short tour of Starved Rock State Park and a map of the park, the new Starved Rock State Park LeRocher Book Store volunteer will be able to give directions to the trail to Starved Rock to a visitor of the park.
- 7. Goal #2: The Starved Rock State Park LeRocher Book Store volunteer will be familiar with the Starved Rock Visitor’s Center. Objectives: Given a short tour of the facility, a new Starved Rock State Park LeRocher Book Store volunteer will be able to role play as a guide to show a visitor to the restrooms and the information desk.
- 8. Goal #3: The Starved Rock State Park LeRocher Book Store volunteer will be familiar with the LeRocher Bookstore and some of its basic procedures. Objectives: Given a PowerPoint presentation and a short demonstration, the new Starved Rock State Park LeRocher Book Store volunteer will be able to complete a sale on the cash register.
- 9. Individuals Involved Instructor Janet Bachman. Program Coordinator. Bookstore Coordinator John McKee. The park ranger or Park Historian Mark Walczynski. Any experienced volunteer who would like to help answer questions and accompany us on the day of training.
- 10. Resources Required Starved Rock information sheet and brochures. Starved Rock history film (already in place at Visitor’s Center). Map of the park and trails. Cash register cheat sheet. Volunteer calendar. Volunteer sign in book.
- 11. Materials Training course agenda. History of Starved Rock film (currently shown in the Visitor’s Center Theater). PowerPoint presentation of bookstore basics and cash register operation. Map of Starved Rock State Park and trails. Starved Rock brochures and information sheet. Cash register cheat sheet. Copies of the volunteer calendar. Starved Rock Foundation shirt example. Name tag example. Snack for the break after the hike. Volunteer sign in book. Learner evaluation sheet. Several books from the bookstore.
- 12. Activities to Prepare Course Make sure that the history film is operational. Prepare the PowerPoint presentation over bookstore basics and cash register operation. Make cash register cheat sheet. Make a list of Q&A over the most commonly asked questions of park visitors. Make a list of prompts for role playing between “visitor” and “bookstore volunteer.” Make a short list of highlights and places to see on the hike. Coordinate food for the snack. Create a learner evaluation sheet.
- 13. Motivation of Volunteers Most of the volunteers at the park want to be there to benefit the park, enjoy nature, and socialize. They usually already have intrinsic motivation. To build interest and commitment, we can discuss the rewards of volunteering: Name tags, name tag award badges for over 100 hours and at tiers of service. Discount in the visitor’s center bookstore. Picnic and holiday party. Programs that the bookstore has funded over the years. Starved Rock Foundation shirt. Sense of tradition dating back to the CCC. Helping people from all over the world. Preserving the park and wildlife. Educating visitors. We should mention the tasty snacks that volunteers often bring to share in the break area!
- 14. Selection of Volunteers Unwilling or unable to operate cash register: Guide the volunteer to other opportunities such as hike guide or information desk clerk.
- 15. Assessment of Training Effectiveness Design review with John McKee. Group evaluation. Expert review with Park Historian or Park Ranger in the walk-through. Learner evaluation at the end of training to pinpoint needed improvement to implement in the next class.
- 16. Criteria for Success Successful role playing to guide a “visitor” to either the restroom or the gift shop or the trail. Successful short oral history of the story of Starved Rock. Successfully complete one or two sales on the cash register in the bookstore, with help.
- 17. Evaluation Instruments Check off sheet comprised of names of volunteers, and each of the objectives.
- 18. Evaluations Overview The learner evaluations can be used to improve the training course for the next group of volunteers. Learner evaluations can be used to decide if more information is needed in the first training session or if more training sessions are needed. Learner evaluations can be used to decide if a volunteer needs some extra help before they begin their first day at the bookstore.
- 19. Have a Beautiful Day Janet Bachman 815-992-3111
Editor's Notes
- Welcome! We are excited to propose a formal training session for new volunteers for the Le Rocher Bookstore at the Visitors Center at Starved Rock State Park. By training a group of volunteers at one time, we can save time and money, motivate more people at once, and help volunteers to bond with each other and the staff. When people feel that connection to each other and the park staff, I believe that they are more likely to volunteer more and show up when they do volunteer.
- We will try to do the training in a 3 hour block, just highlighting some important facts about the park, taking a few breaks, taking a tour, having a snack, and doing some practice in the bookstore.
- The volunteer training for the LeRocher Book Store in the Starved Rock Visitor’s Center will be a general overview with a few key parts. To begin working in the bookstore, the volunteer will need some background and information. First, we will introduce a few of the key people in the Visitor’s Center and see a short film about the History of Starved Rock. Then we will take a tour of the visitor’s center, the Starved Rock Lodge, and the short trail to Starved Rock. At this point, we will have a well deserved break with refreshments. After the tour, we will give you a brief overview of the bookstore duties including greeting visitors and running the cash register. Finally, we will discuss scheduling, peak attendance weekends, and some of the most frequently asked questions. We will use role playing to practice guiding visitors to other parts of the Visitors Center.
- Formative assessments for the training: Using Smith and Ragan’s approach to formative evaluation. After I have designed the training, I will get together with the Bookstore Coordinator, John McKee, for a design review. He will be able to look at the training overall and especially the training for the bookstore, since he manages it. After the instructional design is completed, I will walk through the entire training course with either the Park Historian or the head ranger in an expert review. Each of them has expertise in the park’s trails and history. They are not frequent volunteers in the bookstore, however. That will make them ideal for this evaluation. Ongoing learner evaluation will take place at the end of the training. This will be a very short evaluation to learn what they have absorbed, and where I need to improve.
- Goal #1: The Starved Rock State Park LeRocher Book Store volunteer will be familiar with Starved Rock State Park. Objectives: Given a short film on the history of Starved Rock State Park and handouts, the new Starved Rock State Park LeRocher Book Store volunteer will be able to give a brief history of the park to a visitor of the park. Given a short tour of Starved Rock State Park and a map of the park, the new Starved Rock State Park LeRocher Book Store volunteer will be able to give directions to the trail to Starved Rock to a visitor of the park.
- Goal #2: The Starved Rock State Park LeRocher Book Store volunteer will be familiar with the Starved Rock Visitor’s Center. Objectives: Given a short tour of the facility, a new Starved Rock State Park LeRocher Book Store volunteer will be able to guide a visitor to the restrooms and the information desk.
- Goal #3: The Starved Rock State Park LeRocher Book Store volunteer will be familiar with the LeRocher Bookstore and some of its basic procedures. Objectives: Given a PowerPoint presentation and a short demonstration, the new Starved Rock State Park LeRocher Book Store volunteer will be able to complete a sale on the cash register. This will be done with guidance from bookstore regulars or the bookstore supervisor.
- We may use the trolley to select areas of the park when there are volunteers with mobility issues, in lieu of a hike. On training days that have more participants than the Visitor’s Center Theater can hold, we may go outside to the east steps of the Visitor’s Center, or use the Conference Center with permission from the Starved Rock Lodge
- Training course agenda. History of Starved Rock film (currently shown in the Visitor’s Center Theater). PowerPoint presentation of bookstore basics and cash register operation. Map of Starved Rock State Park and trails. Starved Rock brochures and information sheet. Cash register cheat sheet. Copies of the volunteer calendar. Starved Rock Foundation shirt example. Name tag example. Snack for the break after the hike. Volunteer sign in book. Learner evaluation sheet. Several books from the bookstore.
- Make sure that the history film is operational. Prepare the PowerPoint presentation over bookstore basics and cash register operation. Make cash register cheat sheet. Make a list of Q&A over the most commonly asked questions of park visitors. Make a list of prompts for role playing between “visitor” and “bookstore volunteer.” Make a short list of highlights and places to see on the hike. Coordinate food for the snack. Create a learner evaluation sheet.
- Motivation: Most of the volunteers at the park want to be there to benefit the park, enjoy nature, and socialize. They usually already have intrinsic motivation. To build interest and commitment, we can discuss the rewards of volunteering: Name tags, name tag award badges for over 100 hours and at tiers of service. Discount in the visitor’s center bookstore. Picnic and holiday party. Programs that the bookstore has funded over the years. Starved Rock Foundation shirt. Sense of tradition dating back to the CCC. Helping people from all over the world. Preserving the park and wildlife. Educating visitors. We should mention the tasty snacks that volunteers often bring to share in the break area! When volunteers gather in the information area before the training begins, we could have a slide show playing on a laptop on the Information Desk with pictures of hikes, the park, programs that have been accomplished, and picnics and parties from the past.
- Selection: The participants will be adult volunteers. If a volunteer states that he does not have cashier experience, we can offer him different opportunities such as a hike leader or an information desk guide.
- Formative assessments for the training: Using Smith and Ragan’s approach to formative evaluation. After I have designed the training, I will get together with the Bookstore Coordinator, John McKee, for a design review. He will be able to look at the training overall and especially the training for the bookstore, since he manages it. After the instructional design is completed, I will walk through the entire training course with either the Park Historian or the head ranger in an expert review. Each of them has expertise in the park’s trails and history. They are not frequent volunteers in the bookstore, however. That will make them ideal for this evaluation. Ongoing learner evaluation will take place at the end of the training. This will be a very short evaluation to learn what they have absorbed, and where I need to improve.
- Each one of these objectives can be checked off on a checklist as the volunteer completes it.
- The objectives are few but the cash register can seem daunting if someone does not have experience. Our practice with the volunteers is only to give them a little confidence. We will do more one on one guided practice in the bookstore. We will not make the new volunteers work the register alone until they are comfortable with it. Learner evaluations will let us know how helpful this course has been for them. We feel that this course will give volunteers a good background knowledge, motivate them, and give them confidence. We will build our base of park volunteers in this way.