All around America, especially during the holidays, people help each other by participating in a variety of different charitable organizations. Even here at South, students are helping to make the community a better place.
Activities Director Kathy August organizes many activities for students to give back to the community. These include the Halloween candy drive, the Thanksgiving food drive, the Polar Plunge and the Giving Tree.
During the holidays, South puts up a large Christmas tree in the lobby to help students who teachers feel need an extra gift during the holidays because there’s something hard going on in their lives. Students can contribute by taking a card off of the tree, buying the student a gift card to the place on the card.
Meanwhile, the Polar Plunge will be happening in early 2020 in Portland. This event raises money for the Special Olympics. Students can participate in the upcoming Polar Plunge by volunteering to plunge and committing to raise money, donating to someone who is plunging, attending to cheer the plungers on and participating in the Penny Wars by donating pennies in class.
“[The] Polar Plunge is a school-wide project – everyone can participate in some way. Our goal is to raise $10,000,” said August. “The secret to true happiness is to experience the power of helping others. Ask anyone who performs some sort of community service and they’ll tell you that they get way more than they ever imagined. To have the ability to make someone else’s life better is a gift that should never be squandered.”
Earlier, in October, students participated in the Halloween candy drive by bringing candy to be used in South’s annual Trick-or-Treat party. Shortly after, they brought food items for the Thanksgiving food drive, which goes to families in need at South.
“Both the Halloween candy drive and the Thanksgiving food drive went very well this year. While the number of classrooms that participated was lower than years past, those that did participate, made up for the difference,” August said.
South’s Key Club, a volunteer organization, is also giving back. They are currently helping out by packing food and sending it to children in Africa, making crafts for the Gilbert House and planting trees. When asked what her favorite part of Key Club was, member Brooke Dieker ‘22 said:
“It gives us a space to give back while being around people who make us better people.”
Brooke Dieker ’22
Key Club is a student-run club and is the oldest organization sponsored by Kiwanis for high school students. Their motto is “Caring: our way of life.” The club’s advisor math teacher Amy Gosney.
Although giving back can be a great way to celebrate the holidays, students have plenty of opportunities to help out year-round through clubs like Key Club, Rotary Interact Club, and South Salem Leadership.
