By: Sania Ansari and Elsa Cybukski
Kindness and community are big values at Seven Hills. You can always find a way to be kind and give back to the community through service events. Some service events at Seven Hills are the Caring Place Drive, A Day On Not Off, the Walk-a-Thon, and many more fun ways to get involved with your community.
“Service means understanding the connection between talking about the act of providing for others and actually doing the act,” said Mr. Waskowitz, the middle school principal, when asked what service means to him. While discussing what service means at Seven Hills, Mrs. Licata mentioned, “Service means finding ways we can get students involved in the greater community.” She expressed how the best case is a service project where students who choose to participate can interact with the service agency or the people receiving the services. An example is Matthew 25 ministries, where you can help sort products shipped to people in need.
Mrs. Licata’s favorite service project is the walkathon. “It’s a mix of fun. It’s spring, and we get to be outside, and we raise a lot of money, ” said Mrs. Licata. Because the walkathon is a break from homeroom, a lot of kids want to do it. Also, the money raised from the Walk-a-thon goes towards helping the DRC, where Madame Kalubi is from. This gives a special connection for the people who participate to see how their donations affect people. Mr Waskowitz’s favorite event is the Day On, Not Off event at Matthew 25 ministries. He said it is his favorite event because you usually get the day off on MLK Day, but he likes to take the opportunity to “actually take that time and put it to good use.”
The Seven Hills Middle School is constantly looking for new service opportunities. “We are always looking for new things to do,” said Mr. Waskowitz. He said he wants to reintroduce old events, such as Locks for Leonard, which was reintroduced this year. “It was nice because it was brand-new to the community,” explained Mr. Waskowitz. Other improvements that Mr. Waskowitz wants to make to the service events are expanding the reach of events and getting more student and faculty participation. One goal Mrs. Licata has is to get students to interact with the people they are helping. “I want students to see the work they are doing,” said Ms. Licata.
A goal for service projects is always to get the maximum participation possible. Mrs. Licata and Mr. Waskowitz want students to just have kindness in their hearts and know it’s the right thing to do. When that want isn’t enough though, they use incentives such as candy and prizes/awards for the highest participant. Schoology, blasts, signs, and announcements are used to advertise these events.
The main reason why Mr. Waskowitz loves service events at Seven Hills is philanthropy, or “The idea that giving is good.” At Seven Hills, Mr. Waskowitz is a firm believer that “You have the ability to give, no matter what.” No matter how big or small the donation, Mr. Waskowitz believes anyone can donate anything, and each donation is of great value to the receiver. Helping others is a significant value at Seven Hills, and it shows in all the service projects and care we put towards helping our community.
