The Children’s Education focus area provides volunteer opportunities that promote learning, awareness, exploration and discovery for adults, children and families.

Books Between Kids

Junior League volunteers support Books Between Kids’ efforts by counting, sorting, packing, and labeling books in order to prepare for the “book celebrations” in the Houston Independent School District and the Humble Independent School District.

Children’s Museum of Houston

While spending the night at the museum, Overnight Adventures volunteers act as role models for young girls by participating in craft projects, exploring museum exhibits, and cultivating an interest in nutrition and health. Family Learning Night volunteers help children ignite a lifelong passion for learning while participating in various activities during the museum’s free admission nights.

ChinquaPals – Chinquapin Preparatory School

Volunteers serve as mentors to seventh grade girls at Chinquapin Preparatory School by communicating through written correspondence and a book club. They also prepare welcome packages for an initial meet and greet event and exam care packages prior to the students’ December and May exams. The volunteers have lunch on campus with the students several times throughout the year, as well as host an Etiquette Dinner for the girls in the Junior League Tea Room.

Holocaust Museum Houston

Volunteers provide educational two-hour tours to groups of middle and high school students. These tours engage students in critical thinking of fairness, justice, individual identity, peer pressure, conformity and self-reflection. Volunteers also greet museum guests while working the information desk on weekdays and weekends.

Houston Arboretum & Nature Center

The Discovery Room, located within the Nature Center, serves to welcome the unfamiliar into the forest and wetlands of Houston by teaching visitors how to use their senses to observe and experience the Arboretum. The Discovery Room contains hands-on exhibits like the Learning Tree Challenge and the Tree Habitat Expert Board. Microscopes aid patrons in interpreting the habitats at the Arboretum. This opportunity allows volunteers to act as facilitators for visitors demonstrating tools such as the Discovery Boxes and Field Guides which help visitors find answers to their nature questions. Volunteers may also engage in conservation projects with the team that meets weekly throughout the year, weather permitting.

Houston Museum of Natural Science

Volunteers introduce children to the wonders of science by conducting tours of the museum to fourth grade Houston Independent School District students and participating in the Touch Cart Docent project that introduces visitors to tactile artifacts corresponding to the Museum’s permanent collections. The Touch Cart program also allows visitors with low-vision or sensory sensitivity to experience the world of science in accessible ways.

Pen Pals

Volunteers serve as Pen Pals to students in six Houston Independent School District Title I schools served by the SuperKids Pediatric Mobile Clinic. The program emphasizes reading, writing and vocabulary skills through letter writing. It also exposes the students to new experiences, such as Pen Pals Days and Pen Pals Celebration Day. Pen Pals Days present opportunities for the volunteers and students to reinforce the pen pal relationship through personal visits.

Picture Pals – The Westview School

Volunteers serve as pen pals to children with Autism Spectrum Disorders at The Westview School through a modified letter writing program enhanced by the addition of pictures. Three Picture Pals Days are scheduled for volunteers to meet and visit with their students which help students practice building relationships in a social setting. Additionally, volunteers compile a portfolio of letters and artwork exchanged throughout the year that is presented to each student at the end of the year Artists’ Reception.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Volunteers participate in Fine Arts à la Carte, a flexible placement that introduces children, families and adult visitors to the world of art through interactive, hands-on activities and special events, such as Picture Books Summer Art Camp,  Bayou Bend Family Days and Christmas Village at Bayou Bend.