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Five Questions on Parent Involvement with Special Events Co-chairs

4/11/2023

There is a large, diligent community of parents that helps pull all of Collegiate's special events together, and two of the parents at the center of that network of support are Indrani Agarwal and Mona Shah, the School's Special Events Co-chairs.

It’s a cold, gray afternoon in February, the kind of day that makes you think the wind has cruel intentions, and Indrani Agarwal P ’29 ’35 is taking a prospective family on a tour around Collegiate’s campus, wearing a smile that invites warmth. A physical therapist by trade, Agarwal feels it’s necessary to support the Collegiate education in any way she can. It’s a philosophy that both she and her Special Events Co-chair Mona Shah P ’30 ’33 have adopted in their volunteer work at Collegiate. Together, they organize beloved Collegiate events like Cougar Holiday Express and Bingo Night. Through the work of all the School’s parent volunteers, Collegiate is able to organize community building events, teacher-appreciation initiatives and fundraising opportunities that make our School thrive. During their free time, Agarwal and Shah sat down to talk about the fun, important work that parent volunteers do for Collegiate.

How did you first get involved with volunteering at Collegiate?

Indrani Agarwal: Getting involved in the Collegiate community has been so rewarding. We both began volunteering in smaller ways that still make a huge difference, assisting with projects such as helping art teachers prepare for lessons and shelving books in the library. You know, these jobs might feel minor, but they help teachers focus on other things. If parent volunteers can help with the behind-the-scenes work of preparing for a class, then teachers can dedicate more of their time to one-on-one work with students.

Mona Shah: I started with doing work in the library, helping organize materials and supporting the librarians, and I felt like it was a way for my kids to see me present and involved with the School. I immediately felt as though I had a deeper connection with the School and what was happening in my kids’ lives.

How is our community strengthened by the broad involvement of our parent volunteers?

IA: I think every new set of volunteers is always bringing a different perspective. You know, we’re all kind of coming into the School with different expectations and different backgrounds. And I think that, each year, including a new set of volunteers helps make an event better. This year, for example, we tried to really focus on diversity — not just with regard to ethnicity, but we tried to include more dads in everything we did as well. We just know that having a well-rounded group of volunteers helps Collegiate evolve in ways that make the School feel as inclusive as possible.

MS: To me, volunteering offers a more tangible way that we as parents can say we’ve given back to the School. To see parents coming together and working together — whether that means fundraising, helping with events or helping out a teacher — to give something to the School is really special. I think parent involvement helps enhance our sense of community and encourages families to want to come to school here.

Talk about some of the ways parents can get involved.

IA: Oh, there are so many opportunities! There are a number of different positions, activities and jobs that are suitable for whatever works for you. You know, I think some parents just see the big events like Cougar Pawlooza and Village Green Fair as the only volunteer opportunities. But, sometimes, when I’ve volunteered for smaller jobs, you do them without realizing how much of an impact it has.

MS: It’s really just a matter of giving what you feel you can give in terms of time. There’s no pressure with regard to how much time you can give. You don’t have to sign up for a certain number of events or reach a certain quota. Whatever you can donate in terms of time and resources is greatly appreciated. And the number of things you can do — helping out in the theater or baking something for a class — is nearly endless.

As Special Events co-chairs, both of you help organize many large fundraisers. How do parent-driven fundraisers support our School?

IA: People like to contribute to Collegiate in different ways. I think that putting on events such as a Donut Day or activities like wreath making during the holidays gives people the opportunity to feel a deeper connection in the ways they give back. And those fundraising events help establish important programs at Collegiate such as our wellness education opportunities.

MS: Supporting events like Bingo Night and the Cougar Holiday Express is just another way to give back. These fundraising opportunities help elevate the Collegiate experience that our students have every day.

Share something about volunteering at Collegiate that folks might not know.

IA: For many years, I just thought that only seasoned parents put on these big events. But then we were asked to be the Special Events Co-chairs. Suddenly I realized that you don’t have to be an experienced event planner to help out and be a volunteer. You don’t have to have all this experience. You just need to have a willingness to learn and help out. I think that until you really start volunteering, you don’t realize how many people there are donating their time and supporting our community.

MS: And to Indrani’s point: There are so many people who have jobs professionally that are not related to the School at all who just do this as an opportunity to give back to Collegiate. Volunteering is such a great way to meet other families and connect with Collegiate parents. There’s this community of support that helps pull everything together, and it’s so great to be a part of something bigger.

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