Volunteer Training

Begin Your Volunteer Training

As the first step in volunteering, we hold volunteer orientation on the 3^rd Tuesday of every month. We offer this orientation as an introduction to our site and the start of your volunteer experience at Thomas Edison NHP. We also schedule the orientation on an occasional Saturday, as needed.

This orientation is part of training that all new volunteers must attend. You will learn more at the orientation, but we require all new volunteers to attend this orientation, take the audio tour of the Laboratory Complex and take a tour of Glenmont (on your own time), and schedule a meeting with the Volunteer Coordinator and with the volunteer supervisor you will be working with. We'd like you to accomplish this within a two week period.

Registration and Introductions: 8:30am-9:00am

Topics of the Orientation: 9:00am-11:00am

- What do we, the National Park Service, do here?
- Who's who in the National Park Service and at Thomas Edison National Historical Park
- Safety in the Park
- Where do you fit in as a volunteer?
- What can you expect as a volunteer?

Continuing Education for Volunteers

We hold one-hour long volunteer meetings every month, or so. These provide additional learning opportunities about the park and its resources. Past and future topics include an introduction to the National Park Service, orientation to the archives collections at the park, a tour of the greenhouse, development of the Music Room exhibit, a curator's tour of the phonograph gallery, the Glenmont Garage and cars, behind the scenes at Glenmont, and more. Volunteers took a field trip to the Menlo Park Museum in Edison, NJ, in February.

In addition to learning new things, these meetings and field trips provide an opportunity to meet and talk with other volunteers outside of the work environment.

As an alternative to the public library, we have a lending library for volunteers to read about Thomas Edison and his related activities.