This month we'd like to introduce you to Donna Napoli and Catriona Cairns, who led the team that organized our terrific Fall Fest. Donna is the parent of a preschooler in the Sun room and a first grader; Catriona has a two-year-old in the Moon room, a first grader, and a third grader.

Donna initially helped out with carnival games at Fall Fest, then last year she joined Catriona as a co-leader of the team. Catriona also began volunteering at Ventana with smaller jobs, like cleaning up after the Spring Social, but decided she wanted to take on a larger job to meet more people at the school. "I was a little shy about volunteering when I was a preschool parent," she said. "It seemed like most of the active volunteers were elementary school parents who all knew each other!" It felt like a leap of faith to move to a larger role but she's glad she did.

Both women found their efforts rewarding. Donna really liked working with everyone on the team to make the event happen. "Volunteer!" she said. "It's a fun way to meet other parents and feel more a part of the community."

Catriona agreed. " Jump on in there! I have so many great friends at Ventana now, and most of those friendships were cemented through working together to better our little gem of a school. I also think it's really important for my kids to see me volunteering, as it says a lot about how much our family values both education and community service."

[To see our current volunteer needs, visit ventana.ivolunteer.com.]