Volunteer

An Exciting Place To Volunteer

The Ohio Statehouse Museum Education Center is always seeking enthusiastic volunteers to escort groups of visitors, including school children, through the Ohio Statehouse and serve as information specialists at our two information desks. The Ohio Statehouse is an exciting place to volunteer. Interested individuals should have a love of Ohio history and be at least 18 years old and in good physical condition.

Be a Tour Guide

More than 80,000 visitors tour the Ohio Statehouse each year. Tour guides greet children and adults from across Ohio and the world, taking groups of up to 50 people on 45-minute tours of the building. Volunteer guides receive training about tour content, the history and architecture of the building, as well as the workings of government within it. Training will also cover the most effective way to relate information in an interesting nad engaging way. Tour narratives may change depending on the age and interest level of the group as well as the time of year.

Those volunteers who show an interest can be trained in techniques of living history, portraying an individual from Ohio or Statehouse history. These volunteers would wear period clothing and present facts and information to modern audiences by bringing to life a personality from the past.

Skills Needed

An effective guide should be able to take charge of a group in a polite but firm manner and keep the group together in a large working government building.
Guides should be speakers, able to be heard and understood clearly in a variety of settings and conditions while at the same time being good story tellers, able to relate information and facts in a way that is engaging and interesting.
Guides should be comfortable with people of all backgrounds, ages and abilities, and able to be nonpartisan, apolitical and secular in their presentation.

Be an Information Specialist

Volunteers are needed to help with the Third Street Information Desk. Volunteers will assist staff with greeting pre-scheduled tours, answering questions regarding hours or how to schedule tours and directing visitors and people doing business to different areas of the building.

Skills Needed

Information desk volunteers must have a pleasant voice that can project, good organizational skills, the ability to absorb and retain information, a good sense of direction and the gift of being able to communicate in a friendly manner to people in all types of moods and situations.
Information desk volunteers must be able to commit to one four-hour shift a week between the hours of 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. on weekdays or noon until 4 p.m. on weekends.

Because of the significance of the Statehouse, all volunteers will be required to pass a security check to be part of the talented Statehouse Volunteer Corps. Orientation includes an interview or audition with the volunteer coordinator, training and an information manual. New volunteers will be matched with experienced mentors before their first solo tour is performed.

Rewarding a Job Well Done

A special place such as the Statehouse requires special people. To reward volunteers for the valuable time they contribute, each volunteer receives:

Discounts at the Statehouse Museum Shop
Free on-site parking
Invitations to special events
An annual volunteer recognition program
A monthly newsletter

For More Information On Becoming a Statehouse Volunteer

Luke Stedke
Volunteer Coordinator
Ohio Statehouse
1 Capitol Square
Columbus, Ohio 43215-4210
614/728-2697
Email: lstedke@csrab.state.oh.us

Download the Volunteer Application - OSMEC Volunteer Application.pdf