On Mar. 9, the senior class set off to volunteer at six different locations throughout the community. Seniors were able to pick where they volunteered from locations such as, Community Gardens, Et Cetera Shop, Kidron Bethel, Kauffman Museum, EmberHope and Peace Connections.

The leader behind this volunteer opportunity is student body president senior Caleb Koontz. Koontz got his inspiration for this project from Bethel College in North Newton who has programs that allow non-profit organizations to find volunteers to help with handy work.

“I planned the event by first finding an available date with Principal Caleb Smith for us to do the service day,” Kootnz said. “I then contacted multiple local non-profit organizations that I knew participated in the Bethel College Community Service Day. My favorite part of the whole experience was hearing feedback from the organizations and the students involved about the time they had and how much the organizations appreciated our students’ services.”

One location students were able to volunteer at was a local non-profit thrift store on Main Street by the name Et Cetera Shop. Students were given the opportunity to organize boxes and sort through Christmas and Easter decorations in the upstairs area of the store. Students at this location spent three hours helping to organize donations at the thrift store. 

“We took a bus over to Et Cetera Shop,” senior Ember Suter said. “They brought us upstairs into their warehouse and explained what we would be doing. In my case we were told to separate Christmas items into different boxes such as stockings, dishes, snowmen and angels. We did that for about three hours and got quite a bit sorted. Overall it was fun to be able to help the community in a small way.”

Senior Madelynn Hamm was one of eight different students that volunteered their time at Kauffman Museum in North Newton. This group of students organized boxes into the storage room of the museum. 

“I loved going to Kauffman Museum as a kid, so it was satisfying being able to help them out,” Hamm said. “I think NHS should definitely continue doing projects like this in the future, it builds a positive relationship between the school and the community. Also, there are people that could use some help with things that are do-able for high school students. It’s just memorable and a good experience.”

Koontz hopes this project will continue on in the future. Additionally, he hopes in the future, the idea of community service day could expand and all grades could have a chance to be involved.

“I had a great time communicating with all of the sponsors from each organization,” Koontz said. “Hopefully the school and the community can take from the event and see the positive effect that events like these can have. I’d like to thank all the sponsors for communicating with me and making this great event possible.”