Have a question about the RTCE program at your School?
This is the place to be!
So what is Released Time?
Simply put Released Time is an organization that strives to show the students of Santa Ana that God has a plan for them, loves them, and that they are important.
Released Time Christian Education (RTCE) was begun in 1914 at a school in Indiana as a way for public school students to have access to religious instruction during school hours if they so chose. Since then the program has grown into a national entity that is active in over 32 states with over 250,000 students enrolled each year. RTCE has operated in Santa Ana Unified school district since 2003 teaching kids about God’s love and their importance to them. Students who enroll in the program attend class once per week in one of our five mobile class rooms. Currently there are programs that have been approved and are operating in 11 schools in the Santa Ana Unified School District.
We need your help to make it happen though!
Released Time is an organization that depends on the help of our volunteers to function. There’s many great ways to serve from driving buses to teaching classes but all of them only require about two to three hours per week of your time. The effect that those two to three hours have on the children that are being taught lasts much longer!
HOW CAN I HELP?
There’s a lot of great ways to serve with RTCE from driving buses to helping in our office preparing the next week. You can learn more about each one below and see which one would fit your gifts!
TEACHER
Teaching our students is a great opportunity to directly impact the students’ lives in a positive way while also sharing the love of Jesus with them. Our teachers usually volunteer anywhere from 90 minutes to 3 hours depending on whether they choose to teach one or two classes per week.
Typically teachers will arrive at the school 15-20 minutes before class to allow them to arrange their mobile classroom they way they like and prepare for the class. Once the students are released for their lunch period teachers and their assistants will pickup the students from a designated area and walk them out to the mobile classroom. The actual lesson time ranges from 20-45 minutes depending on how long it takes to gather the students after being released. All teachers are provided with a lesson curriculum and with all materials needed to teach.
Ready to get involved?
TEACHER ASSISTANT
Teaching our students is a great opportunity to directly impact the students’ lives in a positive way while also sharing the love of Jesus with them. However we know teaching a class can be a little intimidating with out any prior experience. Being a teachers assistant is a great way to build up your teaching experience while helping our students learn more about the Bible! Our teachers assistants usually volunteer anywhere from 90 minutes to 3 hours depending on whether they choose to teach one or two classes per week.
Typically teachers assistants will arrive at the school 15-20 minutes before class to allow them to arrange their mobile classroom they way they like and prepare for the class. Once the students are released for their lunch period teachers and their assistants will pickup the students from a designated area and walk them out to the mobile classroom. During the lesson teachers’ assistants help students find the assigned passages of the Bible that are being taught, answer questions, pass out fun packets, and take care of anything else the teacher might need help with!
Ready to get involved?
DRIVER
Our drivers are one of the most important parts of our program and they are not required to have a commercial license! Without them we would not be able to conduct RTCE since our mobile classrooms would be stuck at our office. Being a driver is a great way to help behind the scenes while also helping our students learn more about the Bible! Our drivers usually volunteer anywhere from 90 minutes to 3 hours depending on whether they choose to drive for one or two classes per week.
Typically teachers assistants will arrive at our office 45 minutes before class to allow them time to drive to the school’s location and prepare for the class. Once they arrive drivers help the teacher or teachers assistant with anything that they need and keep an eye on the vehicle while the teachers are picking the students up from the school.
Ready to get involved?
OFFICE ASSISTANT
Every week there are hours of preparation that takes place before any lesson is taught! Being a driver is a great way to help behind the scenes while also helping our students learn more about the Bible! Our drivers usually volunteer anywhere from 90 minutes to 3 hours depending on whether they choose to drive for one or two classes per week.
Typically teachers assistants will arrive at our office 45 minutes before class to allow them time to drive to the school’s location and prepare for the class. Once they arrive drivers help the teacher or teachers assistant with anything that they need and keep an eye on the vehicle while the teachers are picking the students up from the school.
Ready to get involved?