Volunteers can make significant contributions in service to children and youth both by working on behalf of education and by augmenting the learning that schools provide. The merger of the National School Volunteer Program and the National Symposium on Partnerships in Education to form the National Association of Partners in Education is seen as an important development for voluntary activity and advocacy for youth. This presentation addresses four major points. First, the gap between adults and young people, due in part to changes in family structure and the inability of schools to cope with complex problems, calls for increased intervention and initiatives by volunteers. Second, mentoring programs can position volunteers to assist the educational enterprise by providing tutorial, social, and personal support; the role of caring adults is seen as increasingly important in the lives of young people. Third, fundamental principles underlying volunteer work with schools and young people include the notions of responsibility to the community and "interconnectedness," and voluntarism should promote commitment to helping others, as well as academic success, as integral to growth to maturity. Fourth, voluntarism in the schools must be expanded to other aspects of the lives of children and youth through links to the family and community. (AF)