High school volunteerism, student docents, and the Sacramento History Museum

This project explores the implementation of high school volunteer programs in history-based museums. Museums are highly reliant on their volunteer corps, and high school students provide another source of valuable, long-term volunteers. Today, high school students are turning toward volunteer work to fulfill volunteer requirements, learn basic workplace skills, and distinguish themselves from their peers. High school volunteer programs in history-based museums provide a unique opportunity for teenagers to interact with local history and participate in community service. This project analyzes best practices for instituting a high school volunteer program in a museum, and then describes the process implementing the Student Docent Program at the Sacramento History Museum. The project concludes that high school volunteer programs in history-base museums are worthwhile efforts, and museum staff should allocate time and energy towards developing these types of volunteer programs.