Claudette first started volunteering at Ivanhoe Girls’ on the annual Alpine Snowsports Camp and Interschools Championships when her daughter Scarlett was in Year 5. Being involved with school Alpine Skiing turned out to be a lot of fun. “It became a beautiful community thing to do, with a pre-competition dinner in Melbourne and then getting together with some of the parents at the snow, having dinner, the kids making friends and playing card games at the table” she says.

Since then, Claudette has been a regular fixture at IGGSPA, and has helped out at everything from Jam Making, the Second Life Uniform Shop (SLU), Hot Cross Bun Drive and Year 6 Class Event Coordinator. More recently IGGSPA has had to adapt to a virtual world and Claudette has helped with the Virtual Mother’s Day lunch and Virtual Movie Nights to keep community connections going.

“I’m a firm believer in doing whatever we can do to make the world a better place,” explains Claudette. “Everything we do as individuals contributes to the greater good and this is one way that I can contribute.”

“Whether it’s bringing people together, or helping people out… or just a feeling that you want to do something good, that's where it all comes from,” she says.

Claudette works full time as an Art Director, and when her daughter first started at Ivanhoe Girls’, being involved became a great way to meet other families. “It’s not the same as it used to be, when parents would drop kids off and you'd meet people that way,” explains Claudette. “A lot of parents work and as the kids get older you are not going to be walking them into school.”

Instead, Claudette has found those friendly connections volunteering through IGGSPA. “The School has a nice amount of social activities,” explains Claudette, “and it keeps you connected with the School and the people that are part of the School and I think that's a really lovely community spirit to have,” she says. “I really like that.”

As Vice President, Claudette would love to see more parents joining IGGSPA. “It doesn’t have to be a big commitment,” she says. “Even if you helped at SLU three times a year, or volunteered to help on Open Day, many hands make light work.”

In particular she would love to see more parents coming along to social events, for example the Father’s Day Breakfast or the Christmas Lunch. “Even if you come to one or two events in a year it's a nice way to connect to the community,” she says. “They end up being a lot of fun.”