ORANGE TOWNSHIP — High school students fanned out across Ashland County to offer volunteer work to the community on Monday, while the district’s middle schoolers went to work on the local campus for the annual Mapleton Cares Day.
Students mulched, pulled weeds, painted, waxed fire trucks and more for three hours at 19 community locations such as Brethren Care Village and the Ashland County Historical Society.
“It is important to our district to show students the value of community service and providing a helping hand to those who need it, simply for the good of helping your community,” Mapleton High School principal Corey Kline said.
The Mapleton chapter of the National Honor Society (NHS) “spearheaded” Monday’s event which occurs every year in May.
Senior Hunter Piteo, the president of Mapleton’s National Honor Society, said the event is important to her because she gets to share the experience of volunteering with the community.
“Being able to share laughs, happiness, and a full heart from helping the community is something that cannot be topped,” Piteo said. “Cares Day is always so fun for everybody involved.”
National Honor Society advisor and Mapleton High School teacher Kerry Reisinger echoed Kline and Piteo’s themes of volunteerism and community. Reisinger said community service is essential for good citizens and that it benefits both the community and the volunteer.
There is only a few weeks left in the school year for Mapleton students, who get out for summer break on May 31.
