Severna Park High School (SPHS) Leadership Institute students partnered with charitable organizations for service projects this spring. The Leadership Institute is a program designed to instill the characteristics needed to excel in the classroom, the community, and in life. Students learned about needs in their communities while becoming more effective leaders with the following projects.
Healing Together
MaryGrace Blank and Grace Wong
SPHS seniors Blank and Wong partnered with the Ronald McDonald House of Maryland charity to raise resources for critically ill children and their families.
The Ronald McDonald House’s services for families include providing free or affordable places for them to stay while their child receives treatment, as well as meals and other supports.
To accomplish their goal, the pair planned and executed a donation week at their school, collecting monetary and physical donations. With the help of 12 junior leadership students, they were able to decorate donation boxes as well as movie night bags, and they counted and sorted aluminum soda tabs to donate. Thousands of soda tabs were collected and donated as well as 100 pantry items.
Shine The Light
Tommy Osborne, Jackson Eaton and Andrew Webster
Osborne, Eaton and Webster partnered with the Light House shelter in Annapolis to support people facing homelessness in the community. Along with their fellow Leadership Institute students, they raised money and made lunches: turkey and ham sandwiches with snacks and water. Additionally, they made kindness cards and donated everything to the shelter.
The trio decided to get involved with the Light House shelter after hearing personal stories — including an anecdote from a resident, Crystal — and knew that they wanted to make a difference for the people residing at the shelter or benefiting from their services.
They raised $450, volunteered for a total of 15 hours, and created $100 worth of lunches.
Leaders & Readers
Isabel Luznik and Rio Miguez
Longtime friends and SPHS seniors Luznik and Miguez partnered with the Maryland Book Bank for their Leadership III capstone project, Leaders & Readers. They sought to promote literacy in their home state, collecting books for distribution in areas of need.
Growing up, Luznik and Miguez were avid readers and spent their childhood immersing themselves in many books. They still enjoy reading and firmly believe that literacy is vital to the development of one’s mind. They chose this project because they wanted to help their community and teach others about the importance of the skills that come with reading.
Luznik and Miguez have collected over 100 books and counting and raised over $200. Additionally, with the help of their group and peers, they have also exceeded their goal of 14 volunteer hours by making handmade bookmarks for the bank.
Helping Hands
Owen Lynch and Rylan Andrulis
Helping Hands, led by Lynch and Andrulis, launched with a goal of furthering SPAN’s mission to provide food and financial assistance to individuals and families facing emergency situations within Anne Arundel County.
Helping Hands’ goal was to fill the gaps in SPAN’s food pantry and inspire others to contribute. Throughout the spring, students gathered food donations from many sources — whether it was door-knocking or running food drives. Students learned the impact of how much even a small donation can make.
Over the semester, the project netted over $300 in donations ranging from canned food and condiments to hygiene products and toiletries, as well as $200 in monetary donations.
Kinder To Kinder
Corbin Rolfes and James Sullivan
SPHS students, led by Rolfes and Sullivan, held a volunteer cleanup at Kinder Farm Park this spring. During the cleanup, students ran a self-led initiative and managed to leave the sports fields free of trash, debris and waste.
In addition to members of this leadership project gathering at Kinder Farm Park and cleaning all of the fields in the sports complex, over $200 was raised through the sale of custom pins. All money will directly benefit Anne Arundel County parks.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here