31 days of service

What happened to the Day of Service? This year, administrators have decided to institute a Month of Service instead of the traditional Day of Service. During the entire month of October, there will be multiple service opportunities that will be offered to students.

Assistant Principal Tim Scanlon said, “RB has a long tradition of community service. In the past years there has been the Day of Service. There are many service opportunities throughout the community. There are too many for one day.”

Scanlon said, “This allows the students to serve more because it provides a longer time slot and gives them more variety of service opportunities.”

Administrators think this new idea is projected to have great outcomes. Scanlon said, “I think the students will have a typical RB response, positive, enthusiastic. There will be a lot of people signing up, classes and individuals.”

When asked about the Month of Service, senior Nina Pelizzari said, “I am a little skeptical about it. The people that are involved with the school will remain involved, but the Day of Service was very organized and pushed people to become involved who usually wouldn’t be. It’s kind of sad to see the tradition go away, so who knows how it’s going to turn out.”

Depending on the results of this month, administrators are going to decide whether or not they will continue the Month of Service in the following years.

Scanlon said, “RB does not have a required number of service hours. There are an outstanding number of service hours that students have received. They know it’s the right thing to do.”

There are many organizations involved with the Month of Service. Here are a few that students can become involved in:

• Project NICE/Brookfield: October 22, 2011 contact: juliej@cep4youth.org
• Ecology Club: contact: montid@rbhs208.org
• British Home Visits: every Wednesday 3:25-4:45 contact: beasleyj@rbhs208.org
• Riverside Beautification Day: October 29, 2011 contact: terri.lynne1@hotmail.com
• LaGrange Park District Halloween Party: October 28, 2011 contact: dianefaught@pdlg.org
• Pro SE Service: contact: dknox@proservices.org

For more information on service opportunities going on through the Month of Service, contact Assistant Principal Scanlon or go to www.rbhs208.org.

Scanlon said, “Education without service is a job unfinished.”

ALSO RELATED:
You can view the school’s Month of Service flyer and their List of Service Organizations here.

RB Prepares for Fifth Annual Day of Service

As October approaches, so does RB’s annual Day of Service.  On Saturday, 0ctober 16 from 9 a.m. to 1p.m. RB students and staff will hit the streets and parks to clean up their community. 

This will be the fifth year the Bulldogs have held this event. With each new year come new opportunities to help. This year the Bulldogs will help by mulching, gardening, cleaning, moving boxes, as well as working at the Scottish Home and collecting food for the Greater Food Depository of Chicago among other things. 

“Personally, I think that the day of service is a great way in which I can show my gratitude for the community, by cleaning it up, and making it a better place.” Said Phil Stepnowski, a senior and three time volunteer.

Students can sign up for the Day of Service on October 5-7 in their lunch.  Last year around 400 students participated, and Sponsor Angela Ziola hopes that even more students will come out this year.  Students who participate will receive a free shirt as well as food and drinks afterwards back at RB. 

“I’m really excited for this year. Each year it has gotten better”, said Ziola.

Day of Service, four years strong

Just as many Seniors have matured in their four years at RB, so has the Day of Service. From its humble beginnings four years ago, when 130 students turned out, to now it’s fourth year where approximately  550 students showed up to give back. 

When the Day of Service started four years ago as a way to give back to the community, no one could have expected the growth and development it would go through. Almost doubling every year the Day of Service has gone from being new to being a staple of the RB year, from not just the students but from the community as well. 

“They come to expect it, and they are showing up to support it, either volunteer wise or financially,” said social studies teacher and Day of Service organizer Cara Gallagher. “Parent volunteers tripled. It’s a way of life now.” 

Students who participated in the day did a variety of activities. One that has, seen the most growth is the Senior Citizen Project. Students were driven to seniors homes where they then helped clean up in the homes. Students raked leaves, pulled weeds, and moved heavy objects like furniture. Some students even helped them with there computer problems. 

Reaction to the students has been overwhelmingly positive. RB administration got responses from the community that shows the feelings of community and their thoughts on RB giving back. Thought from the community were varied, but all commented on the work ethic of the students. 

The most telling response was from a senior who said, “[The students] were very pleasant and eager to please, they even asked if there was anything further. This is my 3^rd year-God bless you all- I am beyond pleased.”

In addition to helping seniors, students made RB’s surrounding neighborhood a little more scenic by planting flowers, cleaning up the Riverside train stop, and also clearing the Zoo Woods. 

Students lead by science teacher David Monti went into the Zoo Woods and cleared the woods of buckthorn, an invasive species that chokes the natural plant life of resources.

“Basically 1/3 of the students, and staff population was present at the Day of Service,” said teacher Angela Ziola “ A lot of students didn’t come back for pizza, and a lot just showed up without signing up for a job before.” 

Gallagher added, “The day of Service is something I am excited for from start to finish. It is one of the best things RB does.

Bulldogs Give Back

One day out of the year students take time out of their day to give back to those who have enriched their high school experience. The Day of Service has become one of RB’s most admirable traditions and has had an exponential increase in membership every year since its start in 2005.

This year the Day of Service will be on Saturday ,October 17th. The Day of service gives students the opportunity to help out the community with their friends and peers.

The event was organized by Interim-Principal Tim Scanlon, Student Association sponsor Angela Ziola, and social studies teacher Cara Gallagher.

The students will meet at the cafeteria at 9:00 a.m. and participants will be split up into groups and sent out to work on jobs around the community. Some of the volunteer work includes, cleaning up local areas, cleaning the zoo woods, minor landscaping, painting and volunteering at the British Home, and helping senior citizens with odd jobs around their homes.

The day volunteer projects will conclude by 12:00 p.m in the student cafeteria. All volunteers are welcomed to meet in the cafeteria in order to celebrate their contributions to the community with food and drinks.

Sign ups for the Day of Service were on September 6-8 throughout all of the lunches. The number of student’ who volunteered for the activity greatly increased from last year and previous years. Last year around 365 students volunteered for the event and this year about 575 students signed up.

Gallagher believes that students have embraced the opportunity to give back and help others. “The only reason we have such a good school is because of the community and their support for the students. It’s really great that we have set aside a day where students show their appreciation to their community,” said Gallagher.

Expectations are high for this year’s Day of Service and students and teachers are hoping that they can make a difference. “Last year when the Day of Service was over, the student’s impact on the community was very visible. I hope that this year we can do the same thing but on a greater scale,” said Ziola.

Day of obligation?

It’s that time of the year again, when the community comes together for a common bond: service. But I wonder if the right motives are there. We see the students and community members participate, but if asked what there motives were, what kind of responses would be given?

On October 17, 2009, RB will be having its annual Day of Service which provides great community service by doing things such as painting lamp posts, lending a helping hand to our elderly neighbors, or cleaning up trash around parks. The help our students, staff, parents and other members from around the area, bring every year is unmatched. I am proud to say I have been a part of it for the past two years, and I am planning on a third this year.

Now I would probably be the first to call myself out on this, but are we all doing this for the right reasons?

The feeling I get from most kids is that they feel obligated to sign up for the Day of Service. I know I felt that way my freshman year, and wondered why. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to better my community, but in a way I felt like the only reason I was going throughout Riverside with a paintbrush and a bucket full of black paint was because my parents had urged me to do so, not because I was there on my own terms. It could just be me, but I’m pretty confident when I say that other kids have this same thought process. Would half of the football players be attending the event if they weren’t required to sign up? Would the band members be there if it wasn’t for peer and parent pressure?

We see “everyone else” signing up because it is something to do on a brisk, autumn Saturday morning. However, if you were to ask kids to give you an honest answer as to why they were participating, you may be surprised as to what you might hear. Yes, the common goal is to better our community, and I give all the credit in the world to RB and what it has been able to accomplish because of the Day of Service, but I’m just not sold on the inspiration behind many of its advocates.

We all feel like the world owes us something. I think that a lot of my classmates feel obligated to participate, and don’t really appreciate the great things we’re doing. We have to know that by giving back, we will feel better about ourselves and truly “pay forward” our good fortune to be living where and how we are. I’ve had some personal things happen to me that have allowed me to feel the true joy of giving back. It is important for all of us to understand that we need to truly “give” to really “get”, and that the Day of Service should set a tone that we live by all year.