Community Service Hours

BEST BUDDIES

MOVIE NIGHT

3 HOURS

            For our Best Buddies movie night, we watched Despicable Me. This was one of the first events I was able to attend during Best Buddies, and I was hesitant. I was unsure of how to deal with the variety of people in the program, and I wasn’t too sure of what to expect. My hesitancy came from a lack of exposure. But, during the event, I found that it was like any other outing with friends. As an associate, I didn’t have a buddy, but I was assigned to a buddy family, and Laura,the buddy in my family, and I just talked about guys and school and everything before and after, and even a bit during the event. As an associate, our task was to socialize with and promote mutual friendships within our families. It was refreshing to be inclusive and interact with a different group of people than one typically sees in one’s classes and day-to-day life. I absolutely enjoyed every moment of this volunteer event, and in doing so, I found that I really matured and gained friends, as well.

Contact Info

Email: dwarkins@d125.org

SHEDD AQUARIUM

4 HOURS

            For this service opportunity, we spent time going to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. This event proved to be challenging, in terms of logistics. We were unsure of whether or not everyone would be able to focus and maintain themselves in a group setting, especially what with all the chaos that is the Shedd Aquarium. However, after a bus ride filled with Jonas Brothers music and whatnot, we were able to make it to the aquarium and get through it without any injuries. Although, to be honest, I was kind of just waiting for it to be over the whole time—I wasn’t really in the mood for it, but I found that I had a surprisingly good time, nonetheless. Having to be on at all times is slightly exhausting, but I found that it was actually a very rewarding experience. It’s a good experience, especially in terms of maturation, and I found that it broadened my scope of insights and influence.

NHS

3+ HOURS

For this, I mainly just spent my time prepping for Give-A-Thon--I worked on logistics, making phone calls, creating adverstisements, and whatnot, It was your standard volunteership. To be honest, it didn't really impact me all too much, but I felt good knowing that what wok I was doing was helpful, at least in some way.

CONTACT INFO: berdmann@d125.org

Social class at SHS is, well, it's unique. Regardless of the size of our school, there are distinct, if not cliche, social classes and circles ever present. At SHS, for the most part, we basically only see the higher end of the social class--there is a majority of middle-upper-middle class students at our school, and so what we mostly see is that presence. In terms of comparison to the Saints and Roughnecks reading, we mainly have many Saints in our school. The kids who skip class while getting called out, copy homework from their friends, and casually copy while maintaining an achieving front and no-discipline record, make up the majority of our school. They are accepted and even encouraged to blend into our school's society. Those who oppose the school's rules and get caught are shunned by others, looked down upon, and ostracized, even though the "Saints" do the same; the only difference is the Roughnecks get caught.

I see myself as not impacted negatively; I've learned to work the system, so to speak, and can utilize it to my advantage--those in poverty, however, do not feel the same. For the most part, they get viewed as the Roughnecks of the school, even though their actions wouldn't typically be much different from those of a higher socioeconomic status. On top of subconscious bias from the administration, there is also an added pressure from those around them to fit in and not be different rom the majority in our school. For the most part, these factors all work against the success that there is potential for , and this creates a social imbalance.