TeamUP Volunteer & Partnership Council

The TeamUP Volunteer & Partnership Council (formerly the PALS Community Advisory Board) is a 50(c)3 nonprofit organization established solely to support the volunteer and partnership programs in Sarasota County District schools. The Council recruits, trains, recognizes, and retains school-based volunteers and partners and procures funds to meet these goals. Currently, the Council supports a volunteer, read-aloud literacy program (Rockin' Reader) for Kindergarten and PreK students to close the vocabulary gap, which often compounds the achievement gap; inspire a love of reading and increasing reading readiness skills; and increase the students’ life skills, self-esteem, and confidence through intergenerational mentoring.

In 1979, the Junior League of Sarasota and United First Federal Savings & Loan representatives designed a volunteer and partnership program for the district. Funded by a Selby Foundation grant, the program, Partnerships & Alliances Linking Schools (PALS), provided a coordinated, school-based volunteer and partnership program for all schools in the district. Included in the design was the PALS Community Advisory Board (CAB), a 501(c)3 organization established solely to support the district program. In 1993, the program name was changed from PALS to TeamUP Volunteer & Partnership Council to align with the district's program name change to end the years of the community confusing this program with the Police Athletic League.