Cupertino Historical Society & Museum

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Volunteer



We Offer Three Different Types Of Volunteer Opportunities



Museum Docents

Our museum docents typically work 1-2 days a week for 1-2, 2-hour shifts. Museum docents essentially run the museum and are the public face of the museum during open hours. Docents answer the phone, field questions from the public, manage the guest book and visitor tracking mechanisms. We have a docent handbook, and we offer a special training session to all docents.

Docent Gail Hugger showing taxidermy animals to a group from Quinlan Community Center preschool, run by Parks & Recreation, at the Cupertino Museum. Taxidermy animals were on loan from Audubon at McClellan Ranch Park and Santa Clara County Parks & Recreation.


Special Event Volunteers

Special Events Volunteers work at special events in the museum and represent the museum at community events. Examples of special events where we have needed this type of volunteer are: visits from the Quinlan Preschool (the kids have a special story time and do crafts), Bay Area Diwali Festival (museum open house and crafts for kids), the Quinlan Center Tree Lighting, etc. These positions typically don’t require special training and are not weekly commitments.

Volunteer and Museum Docent Rishik Srivastava greeting visitors at a museum open house during the Bay Area Diwali Festival.


Traveling Trunk

Our traveling trunk program is a wonderful program that allows museum docents to go into local elementary schools to offer hands-on history programs for local children. Traveling Trunk Docents have more extensive training and shadowing programs. Typically, they make anywhere from 2-6 presentations a month. The schedule varies greatly.

Traveling Trunk docents Gail Hugger (left) and Carrie Zeidman(far right) doing a traveling trunk presentation to a class at Collins Elementary School.





Specific volunteer positions are listed on Volunteer Match





Our Volunteers Make It Happen

Visitors walk through 2022 Cherry Blossom Festival pop-up exhibit.
Visitors walk through 2022 Cherry Blossom Festival pop-up exhibit.




Certification

CHSM is a Certifying Organization for the President’s Volunteer Service Awards.
In 2003, the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation founded the President’s Volunteer Service Award to recognize the important role of volunteers in America’s strength and national identity. This award honors individuals whose service positively impacts communities in every corner of the nation and inspires those around them to take action, too.

The PVSA has continued under each administration, honoring the volunteers who are using their time and talents to solve some of the toughest challenges facing our nation.

A Certifying Organization is an organization that has been granted authority through an application and review process to give out the President’s Volunteer Service Awards to volunteers. Certifying Organizations verify and certify that a volunteer has met the requirements to receive a PVSA within a 12 month period specified by the Certifying Organization. Only Certifying Organizations can certify volunteers’ eligibility for the PVSA and order awards.