By Laura Seyfang GUEST COLUMNIST
During International Youth Service Week in late April, young people around the world come together to participate in service projects that make a positive impact in their communities.
Locally, members of Lone Peak High School’s School’s Rotary youth service club, Interact, planned, publicized and implemented four service activities in late April. They invited all students in the high school to participate and promoted a healthy competition between grades.
On Monday, April 22, students wore green for Earth Day and used their free period to clean up litter on property surrounding the school. The volunteers filled nearly a dozen big garbage bags which went into the school dumpster. They collected items like wire, plastic of all kinds, scrap wood, glass and rubber.
On Tuesday, students split up and did deep-cleaning of classrooms, responding to tasks identified by each teacher. Their labors included sterilizing surfaces, vacuuming and organizing books.
On Wednesday, volunteers headed to the cafeteria to make a nutritious soup which was then packed into containers and donated to the Big Sky Community Food Bank.
All week long, students collected items like pajamas, stuffed animals and duffel bags for donation to the Elk River Exchange, a nonprofit thrift store in Bozeman serving Montana tribal communities. About 30 large bags of items were collected.
The week’s events were led by sophomores Hana Mittelstaedt, Harper Morris and Elise Daugherty. Youth Service Week gave all students a chance to join in valuable work and experience the rewarding feeling of helping their community and beyond. About 20 students per grade participated in events throughout the week. That’s 75% of the student body.
“Organizing was definitely a lot of work, but the events were so worth it and I think that people were really able to enjoy the activities,” Mittelstaedt said, reflecting on her involvement.“I am also extremely happy that we were able to form a relationship with our local Crow and Blackfoot tribes and look forward to working with them again in the future.”
Big Sky Rotary Club believes in developing the next generation of leaders, and programs like the Interact Club, International Youth Exchange and Summer Leadership Camps play a crucial role in achieving that vision.
Lone Peak’s Interact Club boasts about 30 members and meets every week to work on service and leadership projects. Students annually raise funds to pay the tuition for a young girl to attend boarding school in Nepal through the Tsering’s Fund. The club also donates dozens of warm blankets, with hand-written notes of empathy and support, to local warming centers for the homeless population.
Juniors and seniors have a chance to attend an international service trip each spring. This year, students traveled to Ecuador to build homes out of bamboo for impoverished families. The spirit of service is alive and well in Big Sky youth.
Laura Seyfang is the Rotary Interact Coordinator for Big Sky Rotary.
