My SHARE with Schools Experience: Volunteer Blog Post – Carmen Cooper

Over the past two years, I have taken part in two school visits to Fitzalan High, where we ran a workshop with Year 7s on archaeological science. It was a fantastic experience and one that left me thinking about the value of these kinds of sessions, not just for the students, but for us as volunteers too.

Taking something you’ve studied in depth and having to package it in a way that’s engaging (and actually makes sense) is a great reminder of why what we do matters. It’s easy to get caught up in the detail at university, so stepping back and seeing the bigger picture of why your subject is fascinating is genuinely refreshing.

While the experience we’re offering the students is clearly the main focus, the questions and perspectives they bring to our own areas of interest feel just as insightful.

These workshops open up space for different kinds of conversations about education, opportunity, and history that feel genuinely valuable. I came away from the visits feeling like I’d contributed to something worthwhile: not only helping to introduce students to something new and exciting, but also being reminded myself of what makes our discipline so compelling and relevant.