Instructions for life: Central Mass. Kids explain why they volunteer.

November 24, 2023

England: As you make your way down the hallway toward Andy’s Attic at South High Community School, you’ll notice that the students ‘ efforts to charity have paid off because the walls are lined with garments bags.

People from all over the city and the surrounding area can pick up the bags, which are filled with clothing of all sizes and types, after the students have fulfilled their orders.

Because that’s how it feels, we often say,” We’re changing life,” according to Jasper Fritz, a senior who works as an emcee at Andy’S Attic. ” It feels nice to place an order and realize that someone will receive the clothing they require.”

What started as a way for Darrell and Lisa Reese to pay tribute to their child Andrew, who passed away in 2010 after being involved in an automobile accident, has developed into he founded by students and is now based in South High.

The nonprofit has been incorporated into high school promotion courses, giving students the chance to gain professional development opportunities in addition to helping to provide clothing to community members.

According to Daniel Boyle, one of the professors who helps run Andy’s Attic, some kids are involved with tasks like managing the nonprofit ‘ website and social media, as well as completing tax forms and give reading.

Lately, some kids posted a video on social media showing how they completed orders but struggled to locate some products due to low inventory. They were short on children’s clothing in this case, so it was an effort to emphasize their need for more clothing of a particular length and kind.

Older Fritz, who has been volunteering at Andy’s Attic since he was a junior, claimed that the organization helped to pique his involvement in helping others.

When in college, he intends to keep participating in various volunteer opportunities, though if the time is right, it would be nice to spend some time at Andy’s Attic yet after graduating.

Older Jayden Pridgen, who moved to South High this time, said he enjoys volunteering and volunteering in his area and was happy that this opportunity had been incorporated into his knowledge.

The group, according to Pridgen, gives him a break from the regular school day and helps him plan for his upcoming education. He plans to study gymnastics control in university.

It feels great to help the community and collaborate with other students, according to Solimar Rivera, another senior who is more involved with the nonprofit behind the scenes by handling items like contacting people when directions are available or responding to emails.

Sincerely, Rivera said,” It’s a wonderful system, and if people come here, they may certainly participate in it.” Everyone in Worcester is proud to have the opportunity to participate in it because other schools in the city do n’t have anything like it. I believe many folks ought to take advantage of it.

Individuals in the city and Central Massachusetts area frequently have the desire to help others.

Individuals are finding various ways to volunteer their time, energy, and to make a difference in their area, whether it is because they are required to attend school or graduate, want to help attendant in shift and make an impact, or just spend time with friends and family.

Ryan Delage of Leicester High School.

assisting in the community and at university

Students in Leicester Public Schools are required to perform community support. However, Leicester High School’s principal, Ted Zawada, asserted that he thinks students in the district would volunteer hundreds of hours of their time even if it were n’t a requirement.

Benjamin Milgate, Ryan Delage, and Vivian Giles are three of those individuals. The three freshmen frequently offer their time both inside and outside the classroom.

Students like Milgate, Delage, and Giles assisted in scurrying to shift desks and teacher supplies inside as well as items left over from the university outside when Leicester High School moved into the previous Becker College school.

Milgate said,” I’m still a scholar below, so I’d do anything to help improve my own intellectual season and my experience at Leicester High School.” ” It also meant a lot to me to be able to open that tower, so that when I student, folks like my younger brother—who is two marks behind me—can have the best high school possible.”

Milgate claimed that because they were more at ease when moving items inside and outside the building, the experience even made them feel more connected to their teachers.

He remarked,” It was quite interesting to observe Zawada kicking his feet again, wearing a T-shirt and shorts on the weekend of summer vacation.” Because we are no longer complete strangers, it becomes easier to work with them as a network develops.

Giles added that it was a fantastic chance to learn more about what going to the new school would be like and to get an early taste of what it might think like to finally walk on collegiate grounds.

However, the three students also benefit from volunteering outside of college because it strengthens their sense of community.

According to Delage,” For the older individuals who meet the younger people have helped to develop more links with each other.” It improves citizens, they say.

Delage frequently volunteers at church food pantries in Leicester when he is n’t helping at school.

Giles may offer her assistance with stream and river cleaning or with assisting companies in removing debris from the area around their services.

And even though Milgate may no longer be a Boy Scout, he frequently found himself assisting at Scout misgivings or thrift shops when it was.

All three are eager to participate as volunteers at the university’s yearly art fair in December.

They claimed that working is also a chance to have enjoyment.

Delage said,” You is, like, hang out with your friends to when you do it.” And you can support a worthwhile reason. Simply put, helping others and doing it with friends is entertaining.

According to Zawada,” The students in public schools are the owners of their neighborhood and their school.” They are capable of saying,” I built that,” and walking by issues. I planned that. I made that. Our school is teeming with jobs that are driven by and supported by students, and it will pay off for years to come.

Maryjane Bittar, a junior at Worcester Tech who frequently volunteers through the City Manager's Youth Council.

Learning more about people can be done by working.

Volunteering, according to Maryjane Bittar, a young at Worcester Tech who works in the color and style industry, is” the best way to get to know people and learn about our society.”

” We can all support one another. We can help one another out,” Bittar said.

Bittar and other students will volunteer in the community through her deal to assist with issues like painting and restoring structures and structures.

She also lends a hand at her former elementary school to assist students with coursework or MCAS test preparation, as well as through the City Manager’s Youth Council, where she assisted in painting the Elm Park bridge.

She claimed that as a member of the student government, she was able to assist in creating volunteer opportunities at her past school, May Street Elementary, for another Worcester Tech learners.

She claimed that the views have aided her in learning more about people in general, which will be beneficial in a career in law. Bittar wants to pursue a career in criminal justice in school after graduating from Worcester Tech in order to work in law and eventually get an attorney.

I enjoy volunteering a bit because I want to understand how diverse people’s heads function, their abilities, and what they think, she said. I’m going to move into a ton of people in the legal field, some of whom have been through it all, and I want to know why they’re doing it.

Even though she stated that Boston would be the most possible location for her college education, she is confident that she will immediately start looking for volunteer opportunities.

Additionally, Bittar wants additional people to look for and participate in the volunteer opportunities that the holidays offer.

There are volunteer options in every direction, according to Bittar. Helping out around you is but worthwhile, even if it’s in your college or even just for your teachers for five minutes.”

Donating aids in developing leadership abilities.

Volunteering is another way for Kendra Anim, a freshman at Worcester Technical High School who is studying the allied health business, to meet people who share her interests or have similar backgrounds.

Kendra Anim volunteers at African Community Education, a nonprofit in Worcester that provides programming to students from countries in Africa.

Anim participants at African Community Education, a Worcester-based nonprofit that offers software to learners from African nations. There, she mentors students and offers help with research, tutoring, and completing college applications.

She claimed that the plan had been a fruitful knowledge and had given her the opportunity to work with people who were acquainted with something she and her family had experienced.

My kids are not Americans, and neither was my older sibling, according to Anim. I was the first person born below, and I experienced firsthand how challenging it is to move to the United States.

Anim witnessed the difficulties refugees face when relocating to the United States as well as those of being a noncitizen through her parents and nephew.

There was a time when my parents were n’t officially recognized, which was bad news for me because I had to avoid certain locations. There were some things I was unable to state,” she said.” I was now aware of the dangers of what I could and could not do or state by the age of ten. I was also teaching my parents how to complete the U.S. member test while my friends were playing in the playground outside.

Amin is a student at Worcester Tech studying allied health, but she claims she now wants to go to college to study scheme and work in advocacy.

” Anim said,” I was always deeply conflicted with issues like gender inequality or immigration policy being harsh.” I was always that guy in class who would say,” You know what?” I did suggest it if no one else is going to. “”

Since then, Anim has contributed to plan reading through the Massachusetts Association of Student Representatives, founded Worcester Tech’s first Black scholar union, and served as an ex-officio part of student representatives on the School Committee next year.

She claimed that it has been crucial for her area and the individuals she works with, as well as for the development of her own personality and her ability to feel impactful.

Growing up, there were n’t any girls my age or description speaking to these people who literally have the power to change everything for me on podiums or, for instance, on school committees, according to Anim. A Black teen woman or child who resembled me had not gone out and engaged in these activities.

She cited it as evidence that anyone can have an impact.

In Anim’s place, a banner that reads,” Be the change you wish to see in the world,” is displayed. She claimed that she tries to live by those terms.

She remarked,” I really do feel like I’m a living illustration that you can certainly be the change you want to be.” Everyone has room to grow. Maybe all we really need is someone to help us see that ability. That is what it actually means for me, then.

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