NANKIN – Hundreds of Mapleton High School students put down pencils and books and picked up garden rakes and shovels Wednesday in an effort to show the community they care.
Wearing matching green t-shirts, the students fanned out throughout their school district and elsewhere in the county to take part in Mapleton High School Cares Day. The morning of community service projects was coordinated by the school’s chapter of National Honor Society.
Freshman Samantha Benner requested to be placed at Maple Grove Church of the Brethren because she attends the church and thought it would be nice to give back.
She and her team of fellow students spent the morning spreading mulch and pulling weeds. If time allowed, they planned to head inside to help clean the church.
Travis Kettering, a member of the church’s board of trustees, was grateful for the help.
“It’s saving me a lot of work, so I appreciate it,” Kettering said, adding the event also seems to help students connect across generations.
Biology, anatomy and environmental science teacher Anne Ditlevson said MHS Cares Day has a unifying effect on the student body and is a positive experience for students and teachers alike.
Junior Leeanna Sweeney, who spent the morning washing fire trucks at Ruggles-Troy Volunteer Fire Department, agreed.
“I think it puts a good name to Mapleton, and it just makes everyone feel good,” she said. “You’re not separated by your own little clans like you might be at school.”
National Honor Society advisor and MHS Cares Day committee chair Kerry Reisinger said the event began two years ago when NHS decided to invite the rest of the student body to volunteer with them on a Saturday. About 45 students took part that first year.
Last year, with support from principal Corey Kline, NHS moved the community service event to a school day. This time, about 240 students registered.
The event now has a steering committee of NHS students and MHS teachers, and students already view it as a tradition.
Tori Leibolt summed up why the event is such a hit with students.
“It’s just fun to get away from school and do things for the community,” she said as she spread a waterproof coating on picnic tables at the Ruggles-Troy Ballpark in Nova.
Reisinger said she is pleased with the success of MHS Cares Day, both because it shows the impact her students can have in a single day and because it changes the community’s perception of young people.
“We hear so much negative about young adults in the news, but there are kids out there doing great things and giving back,” she said.
