For the love of students: Phil Allison and Steve Bonaccorso

In honor of Valentine’s Day, we’re celebrating the unexpected friendships that have formed between some of our volunteers and teachers. We sat down with a handful of volunteer/teacher pairs to talk about how their partnerships have unfolded since they started working together. Check back each day this week for a new story.Volunteer Phil Allison and John O’Connell High School of Technology teacher Steve Bonaccorso share a passion for working with students. In fact, Phil had a short-lived career as a Spanish teacher before signing up to volunteer in Steve’s English class. For Phil, the last five years have been a healing experience, offering him some of the rewards he didn’t get in his teaching career, and for Steve, it’s been an opportunity to improve his teaching and the outcomes for his students. Q: Relationships take time. How has your relationship with Phil evolved over the last five years?

Steve: When Phil first came in, I think his past experience with students was apparent. He was kind of tentative with how he felt about being in the class and injecting himself into discussions. After a few weeks of him coming and us debriefing at the end, we talked about how I was really interested in him getting to know the students, creating relationships and that that was going to be really important. It took a little while, but little by little he did that. As that happened and our relationship developed, I noticed him getting more motivated and bringing some of his own ideas into the class.

Q: What kinds of ideas did he bring to the table?

Phil: I liked the career unit.Steve: Yeah, so that’s the thing. More than just coming in and doing whatever I asked, he was really proactive in presenting information he was curious about. One of the first things I remember him doing was a lesson where he translated a poem. That was the first time where he really said, ‘Hey, I kind of want to do something with the class more than assist you.’ That was really awesome because one, I don’t have time to suggest these things and two, I would never put that on a volunteer. For Phil to take the initiative to come to me and say, ‘Hey, I was curious about doing this with the class,’ was really exciting, and the students responded really well. There, I think Phil got the bug. He got excited about it, so last year he proposed that we do a whole career unit and it worked out really well.Phil: It was great. It’s the highlight of my volunteer experience with Steve. I’d taken a career guidance course so I had some handouts on good informational interviewing questions. Steve developed a unit on the outline of some of my ideas and the students were really engaged. I think one student was looking into being an engineer at Chevron and he said, ‘Oh this salary is sick dude.’Steve: Their eyes opened. People came in from the community and the kids got to interview them about their careers, what it was like and how to be professional. It was really useful and the students came out with a lot more knowledge than they had before. Students came to me and said, ‘English class is great and I’m learning a lot about literature, but I walked out of this with real world skills that I can use to get myself a job.’ That was awesome and I give Phil a lot of credit.

Q: What’s surprised you most about having a volunteer?

Steve: I think it was Phil’s desire to really get to know the students, really want to become a member of the class and not just an assistant. Even at the end of year celebrations, he would say, ‘I want to contribute.’ He would help pay for the party that I would normally pay for out of my pocket. I let my students know that, and I think that also kind of helps build that rapport. They get it. Especially I think the EL class this year. They’ve really taken to Mr. Allison and they like him a lot. They’ll ask him specifically when they have questions and call him over instead of me, which I love.

Q: What has surprised you most about being a volunteer?

Phil: The kindness of the students. You get gratification in small ways, like when they ask you a question.

Q: What has made your relationship successful?

Phil: It’s 60% to 70% the welcoming from the teacher and how the teacher incorporates you into the class. Every time Steve says good morning, there’s an effort. It’s a genuine welcome.Steve: The fact that we like each other and we have similar motivations for why we’re doing what we’re doing goes a long way. We really have the students at our heart and it’s about how we can help these students. With that at the forefront, I think it makes it better. As a teacher, you just have to remember that the volunteer is there because they want to be there. No one is telling them to be there. No one decided that they had to. It’s their choice so you really want to make it as inviting for them as possible for them. Because they’re doing you a big favor by being there in your classroom, so you want to be thankful.